


I Searched for Life (But I Found You Instead)

by AlexaNDYE



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-02 20:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5262335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexaNDYE/pseuds/AlexaNDYE
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin is living the regular life of a college student at Polis University, and Lexa Woods had just transferred to Polis University. With Clarke, being a Teacher Aid for Professor Kane, a Biology Professor, and Lexa, needing to take Biology, as required by the University, they were bound to bump into each other eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm quite new to the fandom. I binged the two seasons a couple months ago and immediately fell in love with Clarke and Lexa, and their rocky relationship. 
> 
> I was lurking on Tumblr and on here (for a while), reading all the fanfiction, and reblogging all the graphics and gif sets. I've now succumbed to the notion that I am (proudly) Clexa trash.
> 
> I was (and still am) an Iron Man (Pepperony) fanfic writer, and I'm now testing my writing skills with Clexa fanfiction.
> 
> It's my first time writing Clexa, so I hope you like it!

**[Towards the end of the First Year of College]**

“This class is going to bite me in the ass, Griffin!” Raven groaned loudly as she, Octavia, and Clarke all signed up for classes together. They were sitting in Clarke and Octavia’s dorm room, munching on some snacks that sat on top of Clarke’s desk while collectively stressing out about class registration.

“It’s only Biology 101. It’s the basics of Biology. It’s not _that_ bad,” Clarke tried to reassure her. Clarke was frantically scrolling up and down the master list of classes she got to choose from, and much to her displeasure, all of the Art classes were already filled up and waitlisted.

“Mr. Kane,” Raven groaned lowly.

“Isn’t that the professor you’re TA-ing for next semester, Clarke?” Octavia asked.

Clarke leaned back from her laptop and turned to face the two girls. “I’m not sure yet. He has another TA this year, so you might get him instead of me.”

Raven’s eyes lit up. “But if I do get you, you’ll help me, right?”

Clarke smirked and shook her head at her. “I’m not helping you cheat if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Oh Clarke, Honey,” Raven let out a small sigh. “Don’t think of it as cheating. Think of it as helping a pour soul that has to put up with Biology for a whole semester.” She reached out and caressed Clarke’s shoulder. “Think of the frogs.”

“You mean the ones you’ll have you dissect?”

“Yes.” Raven winced in disgust. “Those.”

Octavia clicked a few times and smiled happily. “And while you two are busy with Biology, I’ll be taking kickboxing with Lincoln.” Lincoln was Octavia’s boyfriend; they met a few times during the first few weeks of college. They first met during orientation, and again when they realized they had the same literature class together. It was practically love at first sight, after a few weeks of flirting, of course. The two kicked it off fairly well, to say the least.

“How the hell did you get into kickboxing?” Clarke asked. “That class practically has an instant waitlist.”

“Lincoln knows the instructor, Professor Indra, so he got me in.”

Raven gave her a look. “And you didn’t get us in?”

Octavia mirrored her look. “I don’t need you two giggling over Lincoln and I during class. It’s barely tolerable as it is having to deal with it every day.”

Clarke’s voice changed, mimicking a baby-like tone. “But you two are so cute I want to puke rainbows.”

Octavia threw Clarke’s stuffed raccoon at her face. “That’s gross, Clarke.”

Clarke laughed and took the stuffed animal in her arms, and hugged it to her stomach. “I’m sad we won’t be taking a class together this year.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll see enough of each other when we move to the on-campus apartments,” Raven mentioned. The three of them decided to move in together into one of the on campus apartments. The apartments were across the street from campus, so it was only a brisk walk to and from classes. The only options were a four bedroom and two bathroom, which meant they’d have to opt for a random student to join them. They just hoped the random student wasn’t a crazy person.

“We’ll cook lots of meals and never do the dishes,” Clarke said, almost sarcastically, and grinned happily.

Raven and Octavia both began to laugh.

Clarke managed to get an Art class, thanks to one of her current professors, Professor Wallace, who offered it to her. She also managed to get a Literature class for her GE and a couple Biology classes she needed for her Biology degree. Other than the Biology class, Raven managed to snub a calculus class and two mechanical engineering classes. After locking in the kickboxing class, Octavia opted to take Spanish, Women and Ethics, a British Literature class, and a calculus class.

Clarke’s phone vibrated right after she got done creating a schedule for the next semester. She read the ID and instantly smiled.

Octavia knew that smile. “Girlfriend?”

Clarke lowered her phone to give Octavia a narrow eyed look. “Funny.”

“Who?” Raven asked.

“Clarke’s mystery texter,” Octavia explained.

“She’s not a mystery,” Clarke corrected her. “She’s a childhood friend. Her family moved in the middle of Junior High, so we’ve been trying to keep in touch since.”

Octavia held up her hand to whisper to Raven, “Girlfriend.”

“Childhood friend,” Clarke growled defensively.

“I can respect the whole childhood friend thing, but then again, I fell in love with mine,” Raven shrugged. Clarke and Octavia knew about Finn; Raven mentioned him once or twice, and even showed a picture. She told them how they broke up, how she found out Finn was cheating on her when she wanted to surprise him at his apartment after work. It was heartbreaking, and it took her some time to put herself back together, but she was in a better place now, a place without Finn.

Clarke frowned at the mention of Finn. “You deserve better.”

“I know.” Raven beamed at the two of them. “That’s why I have you guys, right?”

The three of them laughed and spent the night watching some romantic comedy. During the entire movie, Clarke was texting her childhood friend, on and off. After a few buzzes and complaints from Raven and Octavia, she had to keep her phone on silent, but that didn’t stop her from smiling every time her friend texted her.

* * *

 

**[Second Year of College]**

The semester just started and sure enough, Clarke was scheduled to be the TA for Professor Kane’s 2PM Biology class. Raven jumped for joy when she heard the news, but Clarke had to remind her that she wasn’t there to help her cheat. Raven, of course, dismissed it.

Raven met up with Clarke at the campus center where all of the dining shops were. She saw Clarke waiting for her with a coffee in hand and a stack of papers.

“Hey, Griffin,” Raven pulled her in for a hug.

Clarke held onto her things as her best friend squeezed her like a lemon. “Raven, we live together. We saw each other two hours ago.”

“Yeah, but I missed you.”

Raven pulled away. Clarke shook her head slightly, “You’re just buttering me up for Biology.”

“I cannot confirm nor deny that.”

“I actually won’t be going to the first class,” Clarke said while she readjusted the stack of papers in her arm.

“Ditching class already, Griff? Damn. I think you’re too hardcore for me now,” Raven teased.

Clarke rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “Professor Kane wants me to run a few copies for him for Wednesday’s lecture and Thursday’s lab, _and_ he wants me to swap notes with his other TA so we’re both on the same page for both the lecture and the lab.”

“And here I thought you were going to ditch the goody two-shoes act.” Raven laughed.

Clarke decided to humor her. “Maybe another time.”

Raven began to pout. “How will I survive Bio without you?”

Clarke briefly narrowed her eyes at her. “It’s the first day, Raye. It’s literally syllabus and a small lecture.”

“Says the TA that won’t help me.”

“I never said that. I said I wouldn’t help you cheat.” Clarke rolled her eyes. “There’s a difference.”

“Uh huh.” Raven readjusted the strap of her backpack that was hooked on her shoulder. “I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Have a fun time in Bio!” Clarke said cheerfully before they parted ways. Raven faked a smile and mumbled a few curse words.

Clarke took her time on walking towards the big Literature and English class buildings, and slowly sipped on her coffee. She was juggling her coffee, a stack of papers, and her phone, altogether. She was too busy trying to text back her childhood friend when she felt an unexpected shove against her shoulder, causing her coffee to fly to the ground. Thankfully, none of the papers got loose and her phone was secured between the papers and her chest.

“I’m sorry—I’m so sorry,” Clarke began to apologize profusely.

Her eyes landed on her cha tea latte that began to spread outwards, rolling towards the crevices of the sidewalk. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a pair of classic black Vans shoes stop in front of her. Clarke assumed it was the person that bumped into her.

Clarke reached towards the coffee cup, but the person in front of her picked it up instead.

When Clarke finally gazed up to look at the person that bumped into her, she was met with the most beautiful green eyes. It was unexpected for her, and she began to stumble with her words. Her mind was lost in those pink plump lips, soft emerald eyes, and curly brown hair that seemed to cascade endlessly over her shoulders. She couldn’t even comprehend her long and smooth tanned legs. And the fact that she was wearing short jean shorts wasn’t helping. She wore a loose white tank top and a dark gray sweatshirt that was left unzipped.

“Hello?”

Clarke shook her head, trying to regain control of her thoughts. “Hi,” she responded with a little too much enthusiasm. Her smile faded when she realized it. “Uh, I’m—I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and—“

“Clearly,” the brunette muttered and let a small smile grace her lips. Clarke returned the same small smile; she couldn’t help it. It was contagious, or at least that’s what her excuse at the time was. “I’m offering to buy you another, if you’d like.”

Clarke’s smile widened; she couldn’t explain the reason why her stomach did somersaults. “We don’t even know each other and you’re already asking me on a coffee date?”

The brunette seemed unfazed. “I would be in a terrible mood if my coffee spilled as well.” She paused. “And it’s not an offer I usually make.” Clarke could barely get a read on her; despite the small smile, and her gorgeous face, she couldn’t tell what the brunette was feeling. Did she like Clarke? Did she tolerate Clarke? Did she hate Clarke for being one of those people that pays more attention to their phone instead of where they’re going?

“It’s okay,” Clarke waved dismissively. “I was done with it anyways.” She took the empty cup from the brunettes hand and tried to ignore the brief brush of their fingers. Were there sparks? She wasn’t sure. She was too distracted by the girl’s attractiveness.

The brunette eventually nodded and began to step away. “Have a good day—and try to pay attention where you’re going next time.”

Clarke’s eyes followed her as she walked away. “Bye.”

Clarke almost wished she caught her name. Almost.

* * *

 

Alexandria ‘Lexa’ Woods, a transfer student from TonDC University, now attended Polis University. The transition wasn’t hard for her, as she had to admit it to herself more than once. She originally went to TonDC to study Kinesiology, but transferred to Polis University to major in Political Science, given Polis University was mostly known for it. Her valid reason for transferring was the major, but that was a lie, and she knew it.

She wanted a fresh start – a new beginning, so to speak. TonDC was only a few miles away from her house, but her hometown held bad memories, memories she wished she could force herself to forget. Costia, her girlfriend of three years, and High School sweetheart, broke up with her before she left for college. Lexa tried to fight her on the decision, but Costia’s reason was about the complications that a long distance relationship held. She wouldn’t allow them to go through such an experience; she didn’t want to fight with Lexa every time she couldn’t fly home, or when things eventually got busy and they couldn’t have their daily chats on the phone. She didn’t want to slowly break Lexa’s heart.

Lexa was furious, but she understood Costia’s reasoning. Although they promised to talk to each other, that soon dissolved, slowly but surely.

Lexa approached building 8 and walked through the crowds of people that either loitered along the hallway or were on their way to, or from, class.

Blue. Blue was all she could thing about.

Lexa quietly opened the door to her next class and took a seat in the middle, but more towards the back. She was eager to learn, but not that eager, and she didn’t really like the subject. She shrugged off her backpack and let it sit in front of her on her desk. She took out her phone that was tucked away in the pocket of her shorts and started scrolling through her music. She unraveled her earbuds and pressed them in as she waited for her professor to arrive.

As she listened to her collection of Taylor Swift songs, she took a good look at everyone around her; if there was one thing she learned about college, it was that a student should always know one person in their class. Friends? Not necessary, but an acquaintance was necessary in case of emergencies, such as needing notes, homework reminders, etc.

Lexa observed her classmates that she’d be stuck with for the semester; some talked to their friends, some talked to people they had just met, and some kept to themselves.

Her observations eventually dissolved into nothingness. For some reason, she couldn’t get the nameless girl, whose coffee she spilled, out of her head. Coffee girl? Is that what she should call her? Lexa frowned; she never got her name.

“Alright, class,” Lexa heard a loud, deep voice boom throughout the classroom. Lexa tucked her phone back into her pocket.

Everyone watched the professor walk towards the table in the front of the lecture room. He sat a stack of papers down on the table and ran his hand through his brown locks. His eyes quickly scanned the room, observing as much as he could in a few seconds.

“Welcome to Bio 101. I’m Marcus Kane, but you may call me Professor Kane, or just Kane—whatever suits you.” Kane waved his hand dismissively. “Yes, yes, everyone has to take this class. It is required no matter what. I get that some people like Biology and some people don’t. By the end of the semester, I hope you’ll find it as enjoyable as I do, or maybe you’ll just hate it even more—point is, you’ll have to learn to love it for the next sixteen weeks.” He flashed a charming smile and slapped his hand on top the stack of papers. “Now - the syllabus. Guidelines, rules, etc.” He began to pass out the stack of papers.

“Where’s Clarke?” Lexa heard a brown haired boy with goggles say. He sat in front of Lexa.

Lexa looked up just as the brunette next to him answered. “She said she had to run things for Kane.”

“She said she’d help us pass this class, right, Raven?” the boy asked.

Raven raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “Jasper, we’re talking about Clarke here. She’s not going to help us cheat.”

Jasper let out a small groan. “But… she knows I hate Biology.”

“Well, you better get used to it—and frogs.”

Jasper groaned again.

“Okay,” Kane began, “Does everyone have a syllabus?” He paused to look around. “If you don’t, you can grab one up here.” He grabbed one from the pile and began to look through it. “There will be an assignment from your textbooks after every lecture.” Some of the class complained with a groan. “There will be three exams. Two midterms and one final.” More groans. “Homework counts for ten percent, each midterm counts for twenty percent, and the final counts for forty percent. The last ten percent is free, that way, if you fail, you can’t say you _completely_ failed.”

Lexa smirked in amusement.

“Fuck,” Raven muttered. “Okay, we’re going to have to bribe Clarke _hard_.”

“You’re her roommate,” Jasper muttered. “Force her to help you or something.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll lock her in a choke hold and force her,” Raven replied sarcastically.

“If you have any questions about the syllabus, please don’t hesitate to ask me after class.” Professor Kane turned to the whiteboard. “Let’s get on with things and start the class with the first lecture. Take notes if you wish, but all the information is in your textbook.”

To Lexa, the class was almost painless.

To Raven and Jasper, it was as painful as being skewered in the chest with a spear.

When the class ended, Lexa quickly grabbed her things and rushed out of the room to find her next class. She wasn’t completely up to speed with where her classes were and where exactly the buildings were at; she was worried she’d get lost in the process. The one thing she didn’t like was being late. She hated the embarrassment of arriving to class late and feeling all eyes of the classroom follow her.

“Excuse me!” She heard someone yell behind her.

Lexa turned around and saw the same brunette that sat in front of her approach her. Raven, was it?

“Yes?” Lexa asked flatly.

“I think these are yours.” Raven held out her hand.

Lexa saw her headphones dangling from her palm. “Oh, yes. They are.” She took them. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” She nodded. “I’m Raven, by the way.”

“Lexa.”

“Nice to meet you, Lexa.” Raven smiled. “You wouldn’t happen to be an expert in Biology, would you?”

Lexa tried not to smile. “I’m afraid I’m not. I take it we will both be suffering equally.”

“Damn,” Raven muttered.

“Who’s your ridiculously gorgeous friend, Raye?” Lexa saw the boy with goggles approach them.

“Lexa, this idiot here is Jasper. Jasper, this is Lexa. She’ll also be experiencing the massive amounts of good ole Biology pain with the rest of us.”

Jasper held out his hand and Lexa took it. “Nice to meet you.”

Lexa merely nodded.

Raven felt her phone buzz in her pocket as Jasper tried to flirt with Lexa.

“It’s quite good. My friend made it,” Jasper said proudly. “The best alcohol in the world.”

“Moonshine?” Lexa raised her eyebrow.

“Yup. You should try it sometime.”

Raven read over the message and began to text back. “Hey, Clarke is walking towards the Campus Center. She wants to know if we want to grab something to eat.”

Jasper shrugged, “Sure.”

“Lexa,” Raven turned to the brunette. “Want to joins us?”

She shook her head. “I have another class to get to.”

“We’ll see you on Wednesday then. C’mon, Jasper. Enough creeping.” Raven smiled as she hooked her arm around Jasper’s and pulled him away. “See ya!”

Jasper waved as he was being dragged to the doors. “Bye!”

Lexa waved and then headed to her last class of the day.

 

Lexa texted Anya, her sister, that night. Anya asked her to text her when she got the chance, but she didn’t have any time throughout the entire day since she was still busy unpacking her things in her shared dorm room.

 

 **Anya Woods:** how was class?

 **Lexa Woods:** Class was good.

 **Anya Woods:** …And?

 **Lexa Woods:** And what?

 **Anya Woods:** Meet anyone interesting? Like any of your classes?

C’mon Lexa, give me something to work with here.

 **Lexa Woods:** There is nothing to ‘work’ with, Anya

 **Anya Woods:** Anyone cute?

 **Lexa Woods:** I didn’t transfer Universities to scope out hot women.

 **Anya Woods:** Sureeeee

 **Lexa Woods:** I need to unpack still. I’ll talk to you later.

 **Anya Woods:** Fine, fine. Ttyl little sis.

 

Lexa read the last message and turned her phone off. She tossed it onto her bed and began unpacking the rest of her things from the cardboard boxes that sat against her wall. She couldn’t wipe away the grin that appeared on her face when she took out an article of clothing whose color reminded her of the Blonde’s eyes.

 _Polis University wasn’t so bad_ , Lexa thought to herself.

“Night, O. Night, Raven,” Clarke called out right before she closed her bedroom door. She plugged in her phone to charge and quickly snuggled under the warm thick sheets of her bed. She quickly checked her e-mail on her phone before grabbing her stuffed raccoon and nuzzling its fur with her nose.

 _Could’ve been worse_ , Clarke said as she thought about her first day back at school. She thought of the green eyed brunette and smiled.

That night, neither of them dreamt about each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa reunite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! I appreciate each and everyone one of them!

The second day of classes flew by for Clarke; she expected to bump into the green eyed girl when she ran around campus doing errands, such as buying her textbooks and some supplies at the bookstore, and buying everything she needed for her labs, but she was not seen.

Clarke had two classes that day, an art class and one Biology class. The art class was with Professor Wallace, one of Clarke’s previous art professors. The class was fairly quick; they did introductions, went over the syllabus, and talked about themes and motivations for upcoming projects.

Clarke met up with Octavia and Raven after, grabbed a bite to eat with them, and then went to her last class of the day.

She spent the rest of the night hanging out with her roommates and talking to her childhood friend over the phone.

It was the calming before the storm, so to speak. In just a matter of weeks, Clarke knew she’d be too busy to do anything with her friends, as normal college days go, so she determined to try and make the most of it.

The next morning, Clarke was woken up by the smell of bacon; she caught the smell a few times and smiled at the pleasant savory smell of her favorite food. She let her eyelids flutter open and then let out a small yawn. Her bare feet padded against the cold rug of her room as she headed into the hallway.

“Mornin’ Griffin,” Clarke heard.

Clarke rubbed her eyes and grumbled something under her breath.

“I told you,” Octavia laughed. “Clarke always comes out when she smells bacon.”

Clarke took a piece off the plate on the kitchen table where Octavia was seated. “Using my kryptonite against me…” She mumbled. “Rude.” She then moaned in delight at the sweet, savory taste of bacon on her taste buds. “Damn, that’s good.” She ate another.

“Hey, don’t eat all of it at once,” Raven scolded her.

“Make me,” Clarke retorted, sliding the plate towards her.

Octavia laughed again. “You should know by now how territorial Clarke gets when it comes to bacon.”

“Did someone say bacon?” A voice from the hallway said.

Harper, their other roommate, walked into the kitchen. Harper was one of their ‘random’ roommates that got placed with them; she was essentially the roommate that Clarke, Octavia, and Raven thought would be dubbed the ‘crazy’ roommate, but after spending a few days with her, they thought she was cool.

“Good luck getting it now, Harper,” Raven said with a chuckle.

Harper walked up to Clarke and casually took a piece of bacon from the plate. She munched on it and hummed in absolute delight; it sounded like she was in heaven.

“You let _her_ take one?” Octavia gasped.

“She’s nice to me,” Clarke replied.

“Is this how you guys wake up all the time?” Harper asked as she took another piece of bacon. “Because I could totally get used to this.”

“No.” Clarke get Octavia take a piece. “Raven only makes bacon when she wants something or wants to say thank you.”

Raven brought over the next batch of cooked bacon. “And in this case,” she said as she dropped the cooked strips onto the plate. “It’s a double edged sword.”

“Biology,” Clarke said to Harper to clarify.

“Ah,” Harper nodded. “I’ve heard about that.”

Clarke turned to Raven. “You should’ve done what Octavia did in her Calculus class and befriended someone that knew the stuff like it was the back of their hand.”

“For your information, Griffin, I tried that.”

“Really?”

“Yup, but alas, she was as lost as we were,” Raven shrugged. “So, now you have three of us that are lost causes when it comes to the subject.”

Clarke blinked. “Please tell me you didn’t add another person onto my conscious.” Two people. Two, Clarke could handle, but adding one more was tipping the scales. Of course Clarke couldn’t let Raven and Jasper fail the course. She promised to help them as much as she could, given her TA status, as well as her best friend status. She’d feel awful if she let any of them fail.

“Hopefully you’ll meet her today in class, and then you can decide whether or not you want to give her the boot,” Raven said bluntly.

Clarke narrowed her eyes at the brunette. “You know I can’t do that to people.”

“Yup,” she smiled.

“Help me out here, Octavia,” Clarke begged. “Please.”

“Mm, no way,” Octavia grabbed the last piece of bacon before she took her backpack with her. “I have to meet Lincoln soon _and_ I have class in half an hour. Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”

Octavia rushed out of the room as fast as she could, and at some point, Harper retreated back to her room. Clarke assumed the girl didn’t want to stick around for her and Raven’s bickering sessions. She didn’t put it passed her. Out of their entire group, her and Raven were probably the ones that bickered the most, right next to Octavia and Raven.

“Who knows, Clarke, maybe you’ll like her,” Raven said, drawing out the word ‘like’.

“Would you stop trying to set me up with people?” Clarke huffed. “I’m busy almost every day of the week. I don’t have time for relationships.”

“Which is why I’m trying to help you,” Raven explained as she began to soak the greasy pan. She washed her hands and took a seat next to Clarke. “Speaking of relationships, you never told me what happened to that one chick over summer vacation.”

“You mean my friend?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought I told you.”

“You told Octavia,” Raven said.

“Oh.” Clarke waved dismissively. “Nothing happened.”

“Well,” Raven readjusted herself in her seat. “Something must’ve happened if you barely hung out with us.”

“She had a bad break up and she needed someone to be there for her,” Clarke shrugged. “And we only get to see each other during summer break.”

“Well, now you know she’s single—“

“No, Raven. For the last time, I am not dating her. We’re childhood friends. We’re practically sisters.”

“Okay, okay, fine. She’s off the table,” Raven held her hands up in defense. “But, we are totally hooking you up with someone when Bellamy has another one of his frat parties.”

Bellamy Blake, Octavia’s older brother, also attended Polis University. He was currently a fifth year studying Psychology. During his first two years, he studied Mechanical Engineering, but then decided to switch majors. Mechanical Engineering and Psychology were two completely different majors, so he had a lot of

“Again, I don’t have time for a relationship,” Clarke reminded her.

“Dating, Clarke. One date here and there won’t kill you,” Raven beamed at her.

“Why aren’t we talking about your lack of a love life?”

“Because I have my love life perfectly under control.”

“And I don’t?” Clarke asked in exasperation.

“Nope.”

* * *

The week was going by very slowly, or at least that’s what Lexa thought.

Lexa yawned as she entered Building 8; she had spent the better part of last night working on the homework for Biology. She triple checked her work, hoping everything was right, but even though she got the right answers on the homework, it took her a while to actually understand the material.

Lexa didn’t like to think of herself as an over achiever. She simply didn’t like it when things didn’t make sense to her, hence her reasons for spending over an hour rereading the homework material.

She too engrossed in her favorite song by Adele, which blasted in her ears, to pay attention to her surroundings; she auto-piloted through the door of her Biology class and sat down in her normal spot.

She didn’t see the blue eyed girl walk through the door with Raven and Jasper trailing behind her. She didn’t see them talk in the front of the classroom. She didn’t hear Clarke’s adorable laughter, or the way her nose scrunched up when she smiled.

Clarke didn’t see the green-eyed and curly brunette girl sitting down in the lecture room. She didn’t notice the brunette mouth along with the song that played in her ears.

She laughed at something Raven said to Jasper and then said something that made Jasper playfully roll his eyes. The three conversed in the front of the classroom until Professor Kane passed through the threshold.

As Raven and Jasper took their seats, Raven greeted Lexa, and Lexa nodded in return. Lexa took out her headphones and tucked everything in her backpack. She was too busy getting out her notebook to notice the blonde girl standing next to Professor Kane.

“I trust everyone did their homework,” Kane said with a quick glance around the room. “This is my TA, Clarke Griffin. She’ll be grading your homework. Any corrections _will be_ helpful, seeing as the exams reflect the homework, in one way or another.”

Lexa looked up at the name; she first did a double take, then her mouth parted in surprise. She almost thought she was seeing things.

Kane continued, “If you have any questions about Biology in general, you are more than welcome to ask her.”

Lexa tuned out the Professor’s last words and instead focused on the blonde girl wearing black ripped jeans, and a light gray t-shirt. She didn’t realize she was staring until she saw the blonde go through the rows to pick up the homework.

Lexa was at loss for words; she didn’t know what to do when the girl would eventually stop at her – should she say something? Should she say hi? Should she wave? No. Lexa did not wave.

Clarke picked up Raven and Jasper’s homework, receiving a smile from each of them, and then moved to the next row. She nearly did a double take when she saw the familiar long, curly, brown hair.

“You,” Clarke said with a wide smile. She was almost relieved to see her again, but she couldn’t explain why.

Lexa gazed up at her and returned the same smile. “You.”

“You two know each other?” Raven asked; her body was twisted, allowing her to observe the two.

“Kind of,” Clarke replied. “It’s a long story.”

“I spilled her coffee.” Lexa couldn’t stop smiling.

“And she asked me on a coffee date,” Clarke continued.

“She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going.”

Raven closely observed the two.

“I said I was done with the coffee,” Clarke corrected her.

“Like I said, it wasn’t an offer I usually made.”

“What, asking someone out for coffee?” Clarke teased.

“No, I meant, being nice, even if it wasn’t _my_ fault.” It was Lexa’s turn to correct her.

Raven narrowed her eyes at the two of them; she could tell there was a certain spark between them – a certain volume of undeniable chemistry. “Okay…” she muttered curiously. She could practically see Lexa’s face in the reflection of Clarke’s eyes.

Professor Kane cleared his throat. “Clarke,”

“Oh, right,” Clarke picked up Lexa’s homework and took a good look at the name on the paper before continuing down the rows. “Lexa.”

“Clarke,” Lexa replied simply.

Green eyes stayed on the blonde for most of the lecture, observing the way her brows furrowed when she was ruffling through the homework and making marks in red ink here and there, and the way her fingers gracefully flipped through the pages. Lexa couldn’t stop smiling.

 _When are fingers ever graceful_? Lexa asked herself, almost scolding her for thinking such a ridiculous statement.

After what seemed like the longest and most boring lecture in the world, everyone filed out of the classroom and went on their ways. The hallways of the building got busy as everyone was either on their way to their next class or had just left their previous class.

Raven and Jasper were outside of the lecture room, waiting for Clarke to finish her talk with Professor Kane. When Lexa filed out of the room, she stood next to Raven and Jasper. She didn’t know why she was waiting for Clarke when she had another class to attend in ten minutes, which also happened to be all the way on the other side of campus.

“So, did you manage to absorb anything Kane was talking about?” Raven asked as she tilted her head towards Lexa.

Lexa shook her head, “Not really.”

“Ah, sweet. That means we’re all on the same page,” Jasper said with a nod and a small smile. Nothing felt better than knowing there were others in the same boat as you, either being as lost as you are, or not knowing what the hell was going on during that lecture.

Jasper felt a buzz in his pocket; he pulled out his phone and started texting someone, letting his lips curve into a grin. Raven watched Lexa closely and noticed her eyes were fixated on something inside the lecture room. Her eyes followed Lexa’s gaze, and saw Kane and Clarke talking.

Clarke was smiling and nodding, and then laughing at something Kane said. Kane was gesturing something with his hands, moving them in circular motions, and Clarke laughed again.

Raven turned back to Lexa and noticed the small smile plastered on her face. It was time to work the ole Raven Magic, if such a thing even existed. Of all the times Raven tried to hook Clarke up with one of her engineering friends, Clarke would definitely not consider it as magic.

“So, Clarke, huh?” Raven mentioned.

Lexa’s ears perked up at the mention of Clarke’s name. “Huh?”

“Don’t give me that,” Raven smiled devilishly at the girl and nudged her side. “Don’t tell me it’s not the best thing in the world.”

“What is?” Lexa shouldn’t have asked, because it only allowed Raven to dive deeper.

“Clarke’s smile.” Raven watched a nice pink shade blossom on Lexa’s cheeks.

Lexa was tempted to look away. “I-I Don’t—“

Raven leaned towards her to whisper, “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

Lexa wanted to deny it; she wanted to deny that she had feelings of any kind. She didn’t need that – she didn’t need to feel the familiar warmth in her stomach so soon. Costia was almost two years ago, but that didn’t mean she still wasn’t hurting. The pain was there, deep inside. She just didn’t know how deep.

She convinced herself that a relationship was weakness, but around Clarke, she wanted to feel weak. It was a tug-of-war between her head and her heart.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lexa said with a stoic expression.

“Right,” Raven drew out. Pause. “So, what are you doing out here? Don’t you have class, or are you waiting for a certain Blonde?”

Lexa could feel blush creep to the tips of her ears.

Clarke waved to the professor before she joined the three of them. “Yo.”

“Want to tell Kane to lay off on the homework assignments?” Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s good practice for the exam, you nut,” Clarke replied.

Lexa was too focused on Clarke’s lips and deep blue eyes to join in on the conversation.

“Don’t call me a nut,” Raven huffed.

“You’re lucky I’m even helping you two.” Clarke crossed her arms over her chest.

“Hence the bacon.”

“Aw, what?” Jasper looked up from his phone. “You made bacon?” He frowned at Raven.

“It was a peace offering for Clarke.”

Clarke shook her head. “I wouldn’t call it a peace offering. It was more like a bribe.” She paused. “A delicious bribe.”

Her words made Lexa smile.

Raven turned to the curly brunette, noticing her gaze on Clarke and the pleasant smile on her lips. “Speaking of delicious bribes, Lexa, did you want to join us for a cram session this weekend?”

“How is that…?” Clarke mumbled to herself, trying to catch onto Raven’s ridiculous phrases.

“Cram session?” Lexa asked.

Jasper spoke up this time. “It’s when we all get together and get shit done.”

“Do you actually get anything done?” Lexa raised her eyebrow.

Clarke tried not to laugh, and Raven and Jasper both smiled. “No,” they all answered.

“It’ll be fun, and maybe with you around, we’ll actually get homework done.” Raven passed her a sneaky wink and an eye gesture towards Clarke.

“You don’t have to go,” Clarke reassured her. “Please don’t feel pressured into doing anything with us.”

Raven shook her head. “Are you _trying_ to scare her away?”

“Sounds like you’ve already got that covered,” Clarke muttered.

Lexa liked her alone time; she liked being able to hear her own thoughts and concentrating on whatever she was working on in peaceful silence. During her first year at TonDC, she didn’t make many friends. She had acquaintances in her classes, but never saw them outside of class. She didn’t live on campus since she lived close by, so having friends from the dorms was out of the question.

Now that she lived on campus at Polis University, she was somewhat forced to have some sort of social interaction with people in her dorm hall. She lived in her own room, as she opted for it when she signed up for the on campus living, but she still saw people coming in and out of their rooms in the hallway. And then there was the awkward interactions in the communal bathroom.

_“Please try to make friends,” Anya pleaded._

_“Mmmm,” Lexa hummed in acknowledgement._

_“You’re supposed to live the college life, go to parties, and throw up and shit. Going to college just to study is so boring.”_

_“Thank you for your input, Anya,” Lexa rolled her eyes._

_“At least do something besides study. Hook up with a hot chick, go bowling—something!”_

_“Could you please not yell over the phone?”_

_Anya huffed, “I will not. You need to get out there and show everyone what Lexa Woods is all about.”_

_“There’s a reason why I’m not going to the same University as you. You’re embarrassing.”_

_“Shut up and go make friends.”_

It was the first thing Anya said to her when she announced she was transferring to Polis University. Anya was there throughout her entire relationship with Costia, and again when she and Costia broke things off. Anya was there to comfort her, and even tried to encourage Lexa to go out more, but Lexa was comfortable with keeping to herself. With the pain of her past relationship, she didn’t want to go out and do something she’d regret.

Anya was on her last semester at Ark University studying Business with an emphasis in Marketing. Anya was Lexa’s outgoing, yet protective, big sister.

“What day?” It took all of Lexa’s courage to ask.

Clarke blinked at her question. “Uh, we usually do it on Sundays.”

“Parties are for Fridays and Saturdays, right, Griffin?” Raven nudged Clarke. Clarke was somewhat of a party animal, but only because she rarely had time to party.

Clarke rolled her eyes.

“And we order pizza,” Jasper spoke up. “Best part of the cram sessions.”

Lexa couldn’t remember the last time she shared a pizza with friends. She did it a lot in High School with Costia and some of their friends.

“Sure.” Lexa nodded. “I’ll be there.”

“Awesome!” Raven beamed at the brunette. “Here, let me give you my number.” Raven wrote down a number on the edge of her notebook and ripped it off and handed it to Lexa. “We’re at the Campus Apartments, if you know where that is.”

Lexa shook her head. “I do not. I just transferred here, so I’m not familiar with the campus.”

“Clarke knows the campus pretty well. She could show you around sometime.” Raven smiled brightly.

“What—uh, pretty sure you know the campus better than me, Raye. You spend more time here than I do,” Clarke replied.

“Anyways, Lexa has class to go, right?” Lexa nodded. “We’ll see you later!” Raven said before she turned around. Jasper waved and followed Raven.

Green eyes found blue once again. “See you later, Lexa.” Clarke smiled and then followed her friends.

Lexa didn’t want to admit she liked the way her name rolled off the Blonde’s tongue, but she did. She did.

* * *

There were dozens of labs on the course registration list, but only a couple of them were with Professor Kane, who was known to be an easy professor to have for the Biology lab. One was scheduled on Thursdays at 1:00 PM and the other at 6:00PM. Lexa opted for the 1:00 PM. Raven and Jasper opted for the 6:00PM.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Lexa heard a familiar voice behind her. She nearly choked on the sandwich she was munching on when she realized who was talking to her.

“Clarke,” she managed to say.

“You’re lucky you got into this one,” Clarke said as she rounded the black topped lab table to face the brunette. “When Raven and Jasper signed up for their classes, this one was already full.”

 _I don’t know if I should consider myself lucky or not,_ Lexa said to herself. “I assume you’re also a TA for this class.”

“Yup.” Clarke’s smile made Lexa’s stomach flip. “Professor Kane has two TAs this year. Raven and Jasper got stuck with the other TA for their lab.”

A small smile formed on Lexa’s lips. “Does that count me as lucky?”

Clarke laughed. “I’d say so.”

She didn’t want to admit she loved Clarke’s laugh.

The class was quick. They went over the syllabus, rules and guidelines, safety regulations and supply regulations, and formal reports.

“It’s quite simple,” Professor Kane began. “Show up for the lab, do the experiment, go home, write your report, and give me your report at the beginning of class. Rinse and repeat. Please, at least put some sort of effort in your reports. It’s only a page, double spaced.”

Clarke tried not to smile; she remembered when she took Kane’s Biology lab. It was the easiest class she had ever taken.

“No quizzes, no exam, no final,” Kane mentioned. “It’s an easy A, folks.” Most of the students seemed happy that there was no final. “Okay, dismissed. See you all next week—and please remember to pick up your supplies for the lab before you come to class!”

Everyone chatted with their friends as they walked out of the room. Lexa was in the middle of putting her notebook in her backpack when she noticed the blonde was walking towards her.

“Got another class today?”

Lexa’s mouth gapped when she saw those gorgeous blue eyes sparkle and gaze at her. “Uh, yes. I do, but not until later.”

“Ah,” Clarke nodded.

“I actually have to head to the bookstore to pick up my lab manual.”

“Oh, I can walk you there if you’d like,” Clarke offered.

Lexa mirrored Clarke’s smile. “I’d like that.”

Lexa was quiet as they walked out of the building and towards the center of campus. She wasn’t one to strike up a conversation so easily; she was used to keeping to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was ask a stupid question.

“So, you just transferred here?” Clarke asked as she remembered their conversation from yesterday.

“Yes.” Lexa nodded.

“Where’d you transfer from?”

“TonDC University.”

“Whoa,” Clarke said in astonishment. “Isn’t that school hard to get in to?”

“From what I heard, yes,” Lexa replied as she gazed into blue eyes.

“How come you transferred to this old dump? I mean, it’s not that I don’t like it here, it’s just… this school isn’t as prestigious as TonDC.”

Lexa didn’t want to answer her question truthfully. Costia was a private matter and even though she was growing to like Clarke, she didn’t want to open a door that was so close to her heart.

“I didn’t like it there,” Lexa replied.

“Ah. So, what are you majoring in?”

“Political Science. I assume you’re majoring in Biology.”

Clarke grinned and sarcastically replied, “I wonder what gave that away.”

On their way to the bookstore, a few people stopped to greet Clarke. One of them hugged Clarke; he was a curly haired brunette and a little bit taller than Clarke. She laughed at something he said and then he was on his way. They seemed really close.

Lexa didn’t want to admit she felt a pang of jealousy burning in the pit of her stomach.

“I hope this doesn’t sound creepy, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Clarke began. “Where do you live—Or, I guess, I should say—uh… Do you dorm here?”

Lexa tried not to smile at Clarke’s fumbled words. “Yes. I live at the dormitory next to Science Center.”

“Ah, the Grounders Hall.” Clarke nodded.

“Are you familiar with it?”

“I actually stayed in the same hall last year. You like it so far?”

Lexa shrugged. Other than the communal bathroom and the occasional loud sounds in the middle of the night, she didn’t have any huge complaints. “It’s okay so far.”

“You should stay at the Campus Apartments next year. They’re much better. It’s quieter and you get to room with friends. Everyone has their own room, and there’s a kitchen,” Clarke explained with excitement.

Lexa smiled at the thought. “Sounds nice.”

“It is. You could be our roommate next year—uh, I mean, if you’re interested. Again, creepy. I’m sorry.”

Lexa chuckled. “It’s alright, Clarke.” She pondered on the offer for a brief moment. “You live with Raven?”

“Yep. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“You also live with Jasper?”

“Oh, no. He and a few of our other friends live in another apartment. We live with another one of our friends, Octavia.”

Lexa nodded. “Sounds fun.”

“Chaotic, but fun,” Clarke laughed.

They stopped at the entrance of the bookstore.

“So, this is the bookstore,” Clarke announced.

“I’ve noticed.”

“I have to meet up with someone at the library,” Clarke gestured to the library that was only a few yards away from the bookstore. “So… I guess I’ll see you this weekend?”

“You will.” Lexa nodded.

“See you, Lexa.”

“Good-bye, Clarke.”

The moment Clarke flashed a charming smile Lexa knew she was falling for her, but she never admitted it. She couldn’t, but each second she spent with those blue eyes, she knew resisting was futile. Clarke held some sort of comfort, an unexplainable feeling that made Lexa want more.

Lexa admitted one thing that day. She was attracted to Clarke.

* * *

Raven beamed at Clarke as they all sat in front of the TV in their pajamas. “No fucking way, Griffin. Lexa is in your lab?”

Clarke popped some popcorn in her mouth. “I just said she was.”

“You have to tell me how that goes,” Raven practically squealed.

“Uh, why?” Clarke raised her eyebrow.

Raven gave her a look. “You cannot deny that the woman is gorgeous as fuck.”

“Who?” Octavia asked.

“Lexa,” Harper answered. “Right?”

“Damn right,” Raven said with an exaggerated nod.

“Okay, sure, she’s pretty,” Clarke admitted. “I still don’t know what you’re getting at, Raye.”

“And you said you had control of your love life,” Raven muttered under her breath.

“No.” Clarke shook her head. “No. No, no, no. You are not setting me up with Lexa.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Octavia yelled. “Don’t you think I get a say in this?”

“What—“ Clarke couldn’t believe her friends.

“Fair enough.” Raven shoved popcorn in her mouth. “She’s coming over this weekend for the cram session.”

“Okay, that I can work with,” Octavia nodded.

“Who gave you two the right to judge who I can and cannot date?” Clarke stared at her friends in horror.

“We did,” Raven replied simply.

“Don’t worry, Clarke. I’m not easy to please,” Octavia tried to reassure her.

“That’s not—no, stop it. You guys aren’t—“ Clarke let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m going to bed.”

Raven, Octavia, and Harper both sat in silence after Clarke headed to her room.

“Think she’s mad at us?” Octavia asked Raven.

Raven sighed at the thought. “I’ll make bacon in the morning.”

Harper couldn’t help but laugh at her roommates.

* * *

 **Clarke Griffin [11:41 PM]:**  Hey

 **Bestie [11:41 PM]:** Hey yourself

 **Clarke Griffin [11:42 PM]:** My friends are trying to set me up with someone…

 **Bestie [11:42 PM]:** Hahahahaha

 **Clarke Griffin [11:42 PM]:** Don’t laugh at me

 **Bestie [11:42 PM]:** If I were there, I’d be right there with them

 **Clarke Griffin [11:43 PM]:** Rude! You’re supposed to be on my side

 **Bestie [11:43 PM]:** C’mon Clarkey, you haven’t dated in a while

 **Clarke Griffin [11:44 PM]:** What makes you think I want to date right now?

 **Bestie [11:44 PM]:** a date won’t kill you

 **Clarke Griffin [11:44 PM]:** that’s exactly what Raven said to me…

 **Bestie [11:46 PM]:** get off skype and go to bed

 **Clarke Griffin [11:50 PM]:** but i’m in bed and on skype on my phone. Whatcha gonna do now??

 **Bestie [11:50 PM]:** wow. whoever dates you will have a lot to put up with

 **Clarke Griffin [11:50 PM]:** … meanie

 **Bestie [11:52 PM]:** <3 love ya Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin [11:53 PM]:** Good night you jerk

 **Bestie [11:53 PM]:** Niiiight!! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi @ tripnskip.tumblr!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa get to know each other more. Bellamy's party happens, Lexa ends up as the designated driver, and Clarke gets hammered. And hugs last a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. It's been a little crazy at work (and at Disneyland), and my friends and I may be a little addicted to Live Escape Rooms. Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> ALSO, thank you for all the comments and kudos! I love the guessing of whom Clarke's best friend is! :)

“Okay, fine,” Raven announced as she watched Clarke silently eat a strip of bacon off the plate in front of her. Clarke tried to look like she wasn’t interested in anything she had to say. She sighed before continuing, “I… will not set you up with Lexa.”

Clarke’s ears perked up. “You won’t?”

“No,” Raven lied.

“You’re not lying are you?” Clarke narrowed her eyes at her.

“Not lying,” she lied. “If you’re not into the whole idea of dating a really hot chick with gorgeous green eyes,” it sounded like Raven was trying to get Clarke to succumb to the, more than appealing, image. “Endlessly long legs, and soft brown, curly hair, then I guess I shouldn’t force you.” Raven shrugged.

Clarke did not look impressed with Raven’s attempt. “You’re lucky I have bacon in front of me right now, or else I’d leave the room. And how do you know Lexa is even into girls?”

Raven let out a short laugh. “Babe, please. You’ve witnessed my gay-dar. It’s practically certified.”

Clarke smirked. “Yeah right.”

“I was right about you, wasn’t I?”

“Being right once doesn’t mean shit,” Clarke replied.

“I was right about that girl from your art class, you know, the one that always asked if you wanted to ‘hang out’.” Raven grinned knowingly, and gestured with her eyes at the implication.

“Okay, fine. Twice. Twice does not mean anything.”

“My cousin from Canada? Gay. Knew it since we were preteens. Last Christmas gathering, he introduced me to his boyfriend. My friend from middle school? Bi. Even though she went out with a bunch guys right up till High School, I knew she was checking out girls on the side. Facebook says she’s dating a girl at her college. And then there was this girl at this cooking class I went to last summer – I love her wife – and this guy in my thermodynamics class—“

“Okay, I get it!” Clarke said in exasperation. “You’ve been right a few times, but that doesn’t mean Lexa is _one-hundred percent_ into girls.”

Raven shot her an unapproved look. “Do I need to prove it to you, Griffin?”

“Yes, but,” Clarke pointed at her. “This does not mean I’m interested in dating her.”

“Whatever you say,” Raven teased.

* * *

On Sunday, Clarke woke up early to go for a short run with Octavia. At first, Clarke didn’t want to, as implied from Clarke’s groans of protest when Octavia barged in her room and tried to literally drag her out of bed. But, when the covers were tossed off her body, she almost had no choice.

“I hate you, Octavia,” Clarke mumbled sleepily.

Octavia smiled as she stretched in the living room.

“You’ll learn to love early morning runs, Clarke.”

“Never,” Clarke replied quite angrily. With a sigh, Clarke started stretching beside her. She was in the middle of doing some lunges when her phone buzzed. Thinking it was her friend, she unlocked her phone and went to her messages. She was surprised to see an unknown number at the top.

 **Unknown:** Hello Raven. What time are you guys working on homework today?

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows.

 **Clarke:** I’m sorry. You have the wrong number.

 **Unknown:** Oh…

Clarke stared at the mention of Raven; it took a few seconds for Clarke to realize the intended ‘mistake’.

 **Clarke:** Lexa?

 **Unknown:** Yes. Who is this?

 **Clarke:** It’s Clarke. Raven must’ve given you my number…

 **Unknown:** Oh. I texted the number she gave me. I’m sorry to bother you.

 **Unknown:** If it’s no trouble, can you please send me Raven’s number?

 **Unknown:** I didn’t intend on texting you.

 **Unknown:** I assumed it was…

 **Unknown:** And it’s early…

 **Unknown:** Sorry.

Clarke could barely keep up with the messages she was sending. She was pissed Raven did that and shook her head, but she smiled at the thought of Lexa rambling. She added the phone number as ‘Lexa Woods’ in her contacts. Clarke may, or may not, have taken interest in Lexa’s last name when she was grading the Biology homework.

 **Clarke:** Lexa, it’s okay. I was about to go on a run anyways.

 **Clarke:** You weren’t bothering me. :)

 **Lexa:** You like running?

 **Clarke:** No.

 **Lexa:** Oh.

 **Clarke:** Octavia is making me run with her.

 **Clarke:** I’ll send you Raven’s number, and I’ll even tell you the time and place.

 **Lexa:** How generous of you.

Both Lexa and Clarke smiled at the text.

 **Clarke:** It’s rare for me, especially at this hour.

 **Lexa:** I can tell. You don’t seem like a morning person.

 **Clarke:** Not sure if I should be offended.

 **Clarke:** Here is Raven’s number XXX-XXX-XXXX.

 **Clarke:** We usually start at 5. Order pizza maybe an hour in.

 **Clarke:** APT 300G

 **Clarke:** Second floor

 **Lexa:** Thank you, Clarke. Have a nice run.

 **Clarke:** Never say that to me ever again.

 **Lexa:** :P

Clarke chuckled at the face Lexa texted and found a pair of eyes staring at her. Octavia raised her eyebrow at her.

“You done texting your girlfriend?”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Raven was supposed to give Lexa her number, but it seems like she gave Lexa mine instead.”

“Sounds like something she’d do,” Octavia replied with a small laugh. “And I like how you didn’t say anything at the girlfriend bit.” She opened the front door and began to cross the threshold, out into the wind’s gentle breeze and the warmth of the sun’s rays.

Clarke followed closely behind. “Kind of don’t need to when you guys already know the answer.”

Octavia laughed and began their morning run.

* * *

Clarke told Raven about the texting fiasco and Raven nearly laughed her ass off the couch. She said she didn’t think it would work, but then said she was glad it did. All Clarke could do was shake her head and roll her eyes.

Clarke ran errands for a duration of the day while Raven hung out in front of the TV in her pajamas. When it approached that time for ‘the cram session’, Raven changed into sweats and a t-shirt, and dropped all of her textbooks on the living room table.

Clarke was still out running errands when Jasper and Monty arrived.

“What up!” Jasper raised his arms up as he entered the apartment.

“Raven!” Monty hugged Raven.

“Sup guys.” Raven noticed the two brought a case of Moonshine. “I see you brought the drinks.”

“We’ll need it if I’m going to pass thermodynamics,” Monty replied.

Raven let out a teasing laugh. “Thermodynamics is easy peasy. Don’t worry. With my help, you’ll pass that class on the first try.”

Jasper sat down at the table. “Monty keeps freaking out over the class.”

Monty shot him a look. “Well, when 85% of the students fail the class the first two times, you tend to do that.”

“Unless you’re Raven,” Octavia said as she emerged from her room. She gave Monty a big hug and ruffled Jasper’s hair around. Raven aced every single exam in her thermodynamics class. The professor was pretty shocked she passed on the first try, as well as with a perfect grade.

“Hey!” Jasper exclaimed as he tried to fend off Octavia’s hand.

“Where’s Clarke?” Monty asked.

“Running errands. She should be here soon,” Raven replied.

Octavia burst into a grin. “Wouldn’t be nice of her to leave Lexa all by herself.”

Monty furrowed his eyebrows. “Who’s Lexa?”

“A chick from our Biology class,” Jasper answered as he unzipped his backpack, and took out a pad of engineering paper and his calculus textbook.

Octavia then said, “Raven wants to set them up.”

“And Clarke doesn’t believe Lexa is into girls,” Raven added.

Octavia tilted her head to the side in surprise. “You’re usually right about those things.” Monty nodded in agreement.

“That’s what I said to her,” Raven shrugged.

* * *

Clarke let out a heavy sigh when she climbed out of her car. She planned on picking up a shirt she had been eyeing at the mall, getting a few makeup supplies at the beauty shop, taking her car to the shop to get its oil changed, and finishing the trip by getting gas, but none of the shirts at the mall were in her size, the beauty store was beyond crowded due to some promotional event going on, the wait to get her oil changed was over an hour, and it looked like everyone and their mother was getting gas.

To put it simply, Clarke was pissed. She hated lines, and most of all, hated people (only when it was too crowded for her liking). While she walked from the apartment parking to her apartment, her mood was completely sour. She was absolutely fuming; she was cursing under her breath and asking herself why she thought Sunday was a good day to do errands.

As she approached the second level of her building, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure slowly walking down the aisle, looking at each of the letters on the doors.

Clarke instantly broke out into a full blown grin when she realized who it was. “Lexa.”

The figure turned around and returned a small smile. “Clarke.” Lexa watched the blonde approach her. “Sorry I’m late. I got lost on the way here.”

Clarke stopped in front of her. “I guess I should’ve given you that tour, huh?”

“Maybe.”

“Don’t worry about being late. It’s not like we’re on a tight schedule or anything.”

Lexa briefly looked down before meeting those blue eyes. “I didn’t want you to think I forgot.”

“Whoa,” Monty said as he, as well as Octavia, Raven, and Jasper, gazed out the window, watching Lexa and Clarke talk.

“See?” Raven said, quite proudly.

“She’s pretty.” Octavia nodded. “You have great taste.”

Raven smiled at her friend. “Thank you.”

“Heart eyes,” Monty muttered.

“Definitely.” Raven watched Lexa’s grin grow. “Lexa should just have a neon sign that says ‘heart eyes’ with an arrow point down.”

“I wasn’t talking about Lexa,” Monty replied, as he took his gaze off Clarke to glance at Raven.

Raven beamed at the pair. “Should we start taking bets?”

“You know Clarke wouldn’t approve,” Octavia reminded Raven. And without skipping a beat, she continued, “Two weeks.”

Raven laughed. “Three weeks.”

“A month,” Monty added.

“I think I’m going to stay out of this one,” Jasper said with his hands up. “The last thing I want is for Clarke to be angry at me. I mean, she _is_ helping us study.”

Raven had to admit that Jasper had a good point.

“She’s coming,” Monty gasped, and immediately pulled away from the window. He flipped open a random page and pretended to write something down.

The rest of them did the same.

The lock turned and the door opened, and Clarke was immediately suspicious of her friends and the silence that filled the air. Lexa was close behind her.

Clarke narrowed her eyes. “I’m afraid to ask.” All of them tried to act busy by burying their noses in random textbooks.

“Ask what?” Lexa asked as she entered the apartment. She took in the atmosphere; the apartment was quite simple. It had a small kitchen, a small dining room with a table and a few chairs, and a small living room with a cheap looking couch and a flat screen TV. To the right and left were small hallways, which led to the girls’ bedrooms. It looked nice for something an average University would offer.

Lexa remembered the tour she took of TonDC University. Everything there was extravagant. Nothing was outdated or cheap-looking.

“Silence is never a good thing when it comes to these lunatics,” Clarke said with a slight smirk.

“There’s nothing wrong with a little studying, Clarke,” Monty spoke up as he turned to a random page. His eyes were then fixated on the brunette next to the blonde. “Hi, I’m Monty,” he said with a smile and extended his hand to her.

Lexa took it. “Lexa.”

“Lexa is taking Biology with Professor Kane,” Clarke said as shrugged off her very thin blue jacket. Lexa claimed she only took a glance at the blonde’s body, but to everyone else, it looked like she was on the brink of drooling. Raven nudged Octavia, silently asking if she too saw Lexa’s look of absolute and undeniable thirst.

“Taking advantage of Clarke, too, Lexa?” Octavia asked.

Lexa’s head snapped back to the table; the question nearly blindsided her. “What?”

“Oh no. Lexa is too nice to do that.” Clarke looked at Raven and Jasper. “These two, however, are a completely different story.”

Raven dramatically brought a hand over her heart. “I’m hurt.”

“Yeah, well, suck it up, Reyes,” Clarke said with a slight smirk. She turned to Lexa. “Here, let me take your jacket.”

Lexa shrugged off her jacket and handed it to her with a polite ‘thank you’. While Clarke left, Lexa joined the group at the table and took out her Biology book and her notebook. Clarke came back moments later to find the group socializing.

“Political Science, huh?” Octavia said in awe. “Sounds tough.”

“It’s not all that bad,” Lexa replied.

“To you, maybe,” Monty said with a smile.

“I could say the same to you two.” Lexa gestured to Raven and Monty. “Anything with ‘Engineering’ in the title sounds difficult.”

Raven shrugged and repeated Lexa’s words, “It’s not all that bad.”

Clarke smiled at the sight; Lexa and her friends were all laughing together, enjoying themselves, and definitely not paying attention to their studies. She was glad everyone accepted Lexa pretty quick. She was worried it would be too awkward for the brunette. Sometimes people don’t mesh well with others.

Clarke walked over to the kitchen to fetch some water. “Can I get you anything to drink, Lexa?”

Lexa looked over her shoulder and shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you.”

Clarke brought two bottles either way. She surveyed the table as she approached the group. “Working hard, I see,” she commented sarcastically as everyone, but she and Lexa, already had an open bottle of Monty’s moonshine in front of them.

Octavia shrugged. “It helps process all this mumbo-jumbo.” She gestured to her literature book.

“Okay, you three,” Clarke sat next to Lexa, and looked at Raven and Japser. “Let’s get this over with.”

For the next hour or so, the four of them, Clarke, Lexa, Jasper, and Raven, worked on the Biology homework. Octavia worked on her Literature homework, and took every opportunity she had to observe Clarke and Lexa. The two didn’t interact a whole lot, but Octavia could’ve sworn she saw the brunette take a few subtle glances at Clarke.

After Raven declared she was burnt from Biology, she ordered a couple pizzas, a few sodas, and some mozzarella sticks.

While they waited for the pizza to arrive, Octavia helped Jasper with his Literature homework, Raven helped Monty with his thermodynamics homework, and Clarke and Lexa worked on homework of their own. Clarke was in the middle of her other Biology-related homework when she groaned from the sheer exertion of her brain.

“I need a break,” Clarke said with an exasperated sigh. “This is too much for my brain.”

Lexa smiled; she thought Clarke looked cute when she complained. “And here I thought you were the master of Biology,” she said smartly.

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows. “Who the hell said that?”

Lexa laughed. “Are you planning to attend Med School after?”

“Planning to.” Clarke nodded. “What about you? You seem like the type of person that’d want to be a lawyer.”

“I do plan to go to Law School,” Lexa admitted.

“Sounds harder than Med School.” Clarke gazed at her, noticing the small flecks of gold in her green eyes.

“I can assure you, Med School is a lot tougher,” Lexa said with a warm smile.

“So, likes pizza, plans to go to Law School… Anything important I should know about you?” Clarke matched her smile.

“I thought those were the only ones that mattered,” Lexa quipped.

Octavia nearly had to shove her face in Jasper’s book to keep herself from squealing at Clarke’s obvious look of complete and utter affection.

“Do you have any family here?”

Lexa shook her head. “My parents live in Washington and my sister goes to Ark University in Oregon.”

“Oh, you have a sister? Older or younger?” Clarke asked.

“Older,” Lexa replied. “What about you?”

“Only child.”

“Do you parents live around here?”

Clarke nodded. “They live a few cities away.”

“And you chose to live on campus?” Lexa asked, raising her eyebrow.

“I love my parents, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I want to experience the freedom you’re supposed to have when you’re in college,” Clarke shrugged.

Lexa nodded. “I can understand that. Do you visit them on the weekends?”

“Sometimes, but it’s mostly because I have work.”

“Where do you work?”

“My mom is the Chief of Surgery at Polis Medical Hospital, so I volunteer there when I can. She insisted I get a head start if I want to go to Med School,” Clarke explained.

“Oh, wow,” Lexa gasped in awe. “You’re already saving lives? Where does superhero Clarke end and normal Clarke begin?”

Clarke playfully slapped Lexa’s arm as the both erupted in low laughter. “I would hardly call my paper filing and Excel spreadsheet logging as heroic, but I will admit, I do make a mean cup of coffee.”

Lexa beamed at the blonde. “I’m sure your work at the hospital is important regardless of what it is.” Clarke’s raspy laugh made her stomach do somersaults. She never wanted to see that smile disappear.

“Ah, got it,” Monty said as he punched something in his graphing calculator and wrote down a few numbers. “Thanks, Raven.”

“No problem,” Raven said. Her attention was now on Clarke and Lexa, who seemed like the rest of the world was non-existent. “So, Lexa.” Clarke was in the middle of drinking from her bottle of water when Raven popped the question. “Are you gay?”

Clarke choked on her water in attempts to keep it from spewing out of her mouth. She coughed a few times before she yelled at her friend, “Raven!”

“What?” Raven shrugged. “We live in the 21st century, Clarke. There’s nothing wrong with asking.”

“You could’ve at least eased into it instead of instantly laying it on her,” Clarke huffed. She turned to Lexa with the look of secondhand embarrassment. “I am so sorry. I completely understand if you walk out of here and never talk to us again.”

“It’s quite alright, Clarke,” Lexa reassured her. “To answer your question, Raven…” Octavia, Raven, and Monty were practically on the edge of their seats, while Clarke was trying to settle her throat with more water. Jasper was curious, but not as curious as the others. “…Yes, I am gay.”

Raven took it nonchalantly and nodded. “Awesome, cause Clarke here is bi—“

“Jesus Christ, Raven!” Clarke nearly shouted. “Do you not have a filter?” To say Clarke was giving Raven a deathly glare was an understatement.

Was it wrong that Lexa wasn’t the least bit worried of Clarke’s sexuality? She’s fallen for straight girls before and yes, she’s been disappointed at times, but it was never her intention to pursue a girl just for romance. She enjoyed close-knit friendships as well. Overall, Lexa did feel a bit of relief.

“Superhero Clarke is also bisexual?” Lexa tried to play it off. “Are you sure you’re not perfect?”

Octavia spoke up, “She has a thing for raccoons.”

“And she talks in her sleep and drools a lot,” Raven added.

Clarke gave her friends a look. “Pretty sure she was being sarcastic, you guys,” she deadpanned. “Okay, enough embarrassing me. Back to homework. All of you.”

Five minutes later and the pizza delivery guy arrived. They all munched on the boxes of pizza and mozzarella sticks while they kicked back and watched TV. It was that point in the ‘cram session’ when studying of any kind was forbidden except for the study of crispy pizza crust and long strings of melting cheese.

Lexa, however, continued to do the last of her homework as she ate, and Clarke was the only one that noticed.

A half an hour later, and all the food and drinks were consumed. All of them were too stuffed from eating to even look at their books, so they decided to call it a night.

“I’d say it was a successful cram session, wouldn’t you?” Raven asked the bunch.

“Definitely,” Monty nodded as he headed for the door. “Thanks for the help again, Raven. Prepared to be barraged with texts about thermodynamics for the rest of the semester.”

Raven pulled him in for a hug. “Bring it on, Monty.” She then hugged Jasper good-bye.

Monty turned to Lexa. “It was nice meeting you, Lexa.”

Lexa nodded. “You, too.”

Jasper and Monty left after a few more good-byes. Clarke was in the middle of disposing of the pizza boxes when Lexa came up to ask for her jacket.

“We should really get a coat rack or something,” Clarke muttered to herself before walking towards her room. “I think I put it in my room.” She pushed back the door to her room and turned on the lights. She found Lexa’s jacket draped over the chair in front of her desk. She pulled it off and was surprised to see Lexa behind her.

Her gaze was fixated on Clarke’s paintings that hung on the walls.

“Did you make them?” Lexa asked.

Clarke nodded. “They’re from last year. I wanted to take a few art classes to counter the stress of academics.”

“They’re amazing, Clarke.” Lexa moved closer to get a better view.

“Thanks.” She tried not to blush.

“Saves lives and paints works of art,” Lexa smiled at the blonde. “I feel like you’ll never cease to amaze me.”

“Sorry, but that’s all I’ve got for you. I’ve used up all of my attempts to charm the pants off of you--” She handed Lexa her jacket and paused when she caught herself. “—figuratively… not literally. I swear, I’m not a creep.”

“If you insist,” Lexa replied. She didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable with Clarke’s accidental innuendo.

She and Clarke caught Octavia and Raven talking in hushed voices, but the two broke apart, almost instantly.

“Hey, Bellamy is having a part at the frat house next weekend,” Raven told Clarke. “You down, Clarke?”

“Sure, since it’ll probably be the only party I’ll get to go to this whole semester,” Clarke replied.

“You’re invited too, Lexa.”

Lexa was in the middle of putting on her jacket. “I’m not much of a party person.” She didn’t like the idea of drinking the night away with people she hardly knew. She drank, but partying never appealed to her.

“You don’t have to drink. It’s just a little college party,” Octavia tried to reassure her.

“Yeah, but I’m sure we party better than the peeps at TonDC,” Raven said with a smug look.

“I never attended any parties at TonDC, but I’ll think about it,” Lexa said with a small smile.

“Don’t listen to them,” Clarke reassured her. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Or rather, would you want to miss out on party animal Griffin?” Raven teased the brunette. Clarke rolled her eyes at the comment.

“Thanks for inviting me to this,” she said to Raven and Clarke, and then turned to Octavia. “It was nice meeting you, Octavia.” Octavia nodded in return. Clarke showed her out and closed the door behind her.

“So,” Raven nudged Octavia. “Final verdict?”

Octavia smirked. “She’s got my stamp of approval, and my bet still stands.”

“You’re on.” Raven laughed.

* * *

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you back?” Clarke asked as she and Lexa approached the edge of the apartments.

Lexa nodded. “I don’t want you to go out of your way for me.”

“I just want to make sure you get back to your place safely.”

“I’ll be fine, Clarke.”

Clarke hugged herself when a gust of cold wind hit them. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa’s neck and pulled her in for a hug. At first, Lexa was surprised by the sudden notion, but soon found herself settling into the blonde’s arms and wrapping her arms around Clarke’s waist.

Clarke couldn’t tell if time stopped.

Fire trucks and cops could be blaring their sirens behind them, and Lexa would still refuse to move out of her embrace. To Lexa, time did stop, but only for a short moment. Unfortunately, Clarke was the first to pull away.

“Thanks for coming. I know my friends can be really… well… I don’t exactly have words to describe them, but thank you for putting up with them.” She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s what friends do, right?”

There it was again, Clarke’s adorable raspy laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Clarke.”

“Good night, Lexa.”

Clarke returned to her apartment moments later and hit Raven in the arm for purposefully giving Lexa her phone number. Raven laughed and shouted ‘You’re welcome’ right before Clarke retreated to her room to change into her pajamas.

* * *

“I can’t believe you managed to drag me to this thing…” Lexa grumbled angrily as she managed to squeeze past a fairly tipsy, and loud, shirtless college kid. It wasn’t even past 5PM and people were already in the process of taking their clothes off, and the sight made Lexa wince in disgust.

Lexa wasn’t much for drinking; she never did like the taste of alcohol, nor did she like the burning sensation that dragged down her throat.

She has heard stories from Anya’s experiences with parties, and all of them ended with either throwing up or waking up in an unfamiliar place, all to which Anya claimed was a good thing.

Raven laughed at the brunette as she surveyed the already chaotic state of the frat house party. There was a number of people in the corner of the living room chanting chug, there were others chatting on the side, some making out on the side, and others were casually mingling with a red solo cup in their hand.

“You’ll thank me later, Lexa,” Raven said, giving Lexa a wink. “Drink as much as you want. There are drinks in the coolers, in the kitchen, and in the fridge. I can even mix you a special drink if you’re up for it.”

Lexa was in a room with people she didn’t know, so she had to choice but to follow Raven to the kitchen. She weaved in and out, dodging people that littered the hallways.

“You said you guys needed a DD. Why else would I have agreed to come?” She watched Raven open at least four bottles of hard liquor and watched her pour them all together in a cup.

“Other than for a certain blonde?” Raven shrugged and broke out into a wide smile. “For fun, of course.”

Lexa gave her a look. “We’re just friends.”

Raven handed one of the cups to Lexa, but she refused to take it. Raven poured the two drinks into one cup and took a sip. She nodded at the concoction before deciding to add more vodka. “Okay then, what’s wrong with getting to know your friends a little bit better?”

Lexa was about to retort, but before she could a boy stumbled between them crying in laughter at something someone shouted behind him. Lexa pulled back to give the boy some space, and Raven did the same.

The boy’s laughter died as he realized who he was between. “Whoa.” He looked between them. “You two are really pretty. Want to dance?” He asked as he struggled to stand properly. “I could show you how to dance.”

Raven smirked. “I’m good.”

The boy looked to Lexa. “How about it, pretty lady? I could rock your world.” His words started to slur, but the wink is what made Raven burst into laughter.

Raven pulled the boy away from Lexa. “Hey, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure thing! I’m your guy!” The boy laughed a bit.

“Tell Bellamy to break out the beer pong table. The Champion wants a rematch.”

The boy nodded and stumbled out of the kitchen. But just as the boy left, more people started to flood the kitchen in search for more drinks. Raven noticed the crowd and pulled Lexa towards the back. She led her outside to the backyard.

Aside from the loud music blasting from the house, the backyard was peaceful and somewhat quiet. Lexa sighed in relief when she felt the cool air brush against her skin.

There were a few couples making out in the backyard, but nothing over the top. The backyard was decorated with strings of lights that glowed blue and white, littering the tops of the hedges that enclosed the space. There was a small wooden backyard porch that overlooked the grass covered yard.

Raven leaned her back against the railing of the porch and watched Lexa take a long, deep breath. “It normally doesn’t get this crowded, but it is the first one of the year, and those tend to get crazy. Bellamy does like his frat parties.”

Lexa watched her take a sip of her drink. “I thought you guys drank a lot during these things?”

Raven shrugged. “Clarke and Octavia get crazy. I’m usually stuck being the DD, but since you’ve so willingly agreed to come, that means I get to drink.” She took a long drink this time. “I mean, you could’ve said ‘no’.”

“I could have,” Lexa agreed. “But then I’d worry.”

Raven looked flattered. “Aw, you big fluff ball.” She nudged the brunette. “You totally like us.”

“I’d rather not have your deaths on my conscious,” Lexa quickly corrected her.

“Actually, we could’ve crashed here. We usually do that if all three of us are hammered.”

Lexa slowly turned to face Raven as the look of annoyance blossomed on her face. She had to bite back the curse words that threatened to spill out of her mouth. Instead of coming to the party, she could’ve been snuggled up in one of her blankets on her bed watching one of her favorite movies. She could’ve been reading or working on some of her homework. She could’ve been anywhere else. “And you lied to me, insisting you guys needed a DD because…?”

Raven shrugged. “It’s good to get out once in a while.”

She reminded Lexa of her sister. Anya would say the same thing.

“Raven!” They both heard the familiar voice.

Clarke pushed past the door and nearly slammed into Raven. Raven laughed and hugged the girl back. “Evening, Griffin. Already wasted, I see?” She didn’t reek of alcohol, but Raven could tell she had a few, and she knew she was nowhere near hammered.

“As if. I’ve only had a few drinks,” Clarke explained. Raven looked past her and towards Lexa, and Clarke followed her gaze. “Lexa!” She exclaimed rather loudly.

Clarke pulled herself off Raven and wrapped her arms around Lexa’s neck to hug her. She began to stumble, but Lexa’s arms instinctively wrapped around her waist, steadying her, but also pulling her closer. Raven raised her eyebrow and had to bury her face in her drink to keep herself from squealing in delight.

Clarke pulled away, but kept her arms around her neck. Her face was nearly inches from Lexa’s, and Lexa was certain, in that moment, that her face was bright red from blushing.

“Raven said you didn’t want to come,” Clarke muttered with a small curl of her lips. Despite the minor smell of alcohol, her breath was hot on Lexa’s skin. “But I’m glad you did.”

Lexa smiled, trying really hard not to look down at Clarke’s glossy pink lips. “Me, too.”

Raven tried choking back a laugh but ended up sputtering into her drink. Lexa tried to ignore her.

“I hope she didn’t force you to come.” Clarke glanced at Raven. “She tends to do that.”

“Do not,” Raven muttered.

“She said you guys needed a responsible adult,” Lexa told truthfully. “So, I’m here to make sure you get home safely.”

Clarke didn’t realize her fingers were playing with the curls in Lexa’s hair, and neither did Lexa. “Thank you, Lexa.” Raven watched intently as the two interacted, because a few inches closer and their lips would be pressed together.

“Hey!” Bellamy suddenly pushed through the door. “Clarke! C’mon, we’re going to play beer pong!” In his semi-drunk stupor, he didn’t realize the moment just crashed. He turned to Raven and nodded at her. “Sup, Raven.”

“Bellamy,” she greeted him with a tip of her cup. “See you sister around?”

He shrugged. “She’s probably making out with Lincoln somewhere. _Do not_ let me know if you find her.” He turned back to Clarke. “Waiting on you, Clarke!” he said as he walked back inside.

“Want to join us, Lexa?” Clarke asked.

Lexa shook her head. The warmth from Clarke’s body left her, leaving her front cold and uncomforting. It was almost painful to watch Clarke go back inside the house, away from her.

“And she said she only had a few drinks.” Raven chuckled into her drink.

Lexa let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “It gets worse?”

Raven laughed. “Wait till the end of the night. If she was that flirty with you when she was tipsy, wait till she drinks one of my mixes. I guarantee, she’ll sit on top of you.” She walked back inside and asked Lexa if she wanted a drink, or any drink to be specific, but Lexa declined her offer.

Lexa could hear cheers coming from inside the house, and when she looked through the window, she saw Clarke laughing and Bellamy downing a cup. Seeing Clarke happy made her happy, as cheesy at it sounded. Her laugh was contagious and her smile was as bright as the sun, almost blinding, even. It was almost impossible to deny the blonde’s effects on her.

“How is someone as pretty as yourself all alone out here?”

A beautiful brunette approached her, but with no drink in her hand. Lexa assumed the girl came outside for a breath of fresh hair. The house looked like it was overflowing with college kids who were all on a mission to drink as much as humanly possible.

“It was too loud in there,” Lexa explained.

The girl nodded. “Understandable. I’m Echo, by the way.”

“Lexa.”

“Ah, yes, I knew I recognized you from somewhere. You’re in my women’s ethics class.” Lexa recognized her, but vaguely. “Very inspiring speech on feminism, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sure you made that guy piss his pants when he tried to make an argument,” Echo laughed. Lexa laughed along with her.

“Feminism isn’t hard to understand. I was only trying to clarify a few points.”

“For the right reasons though,” Echo reminded her. “Your boyfriend must be lucky.”

Lexa broke out into a smile as Anya’s words barreled through her mind, _“Oh my dear, sweet, and incredibly gay, sister. You are so, so, so very gay. And I love you.”_ It was when she drunk dialed Lexa.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Lexa corrected her.

Echo didn’t seemed fazed; without skipping a beat, she added, “Girlfriend then?”

Lexa shook her head. Another laughter erupted from house and this time, Clarke has her arms up in the air in victory as people chanted her name. Bellamy chugged another cup and let out a roar as he slammed it on the table. Only two cups were empty on Clarke’s side. And there it was – Clarke’s bright, beautiful smile and raspy laugh, only more drunkenly exaggerated, but still very adorable.

Echo’s curiosity got the better of herself as she noticed Lexa’s sudden grin and sparkling eyes of adoration. She followed Lexa’s gaze and found the blonde, and that’s when things clicked together.

“Oh, so _you’re_ Clarke’s Lexa.” She laughed.

 _Her Lexa?_ “Pardon?”

“Clarke likes to talk about you.”

 _She likes to talk about me?_ “She talks about me?”

Echo nodded. “She mentioned you a few times.”

Lexa’s stomach flipped. “Good things, I hope.”

A boy Lexa didn’t recognize cracked open the backdoor.

“Hey, Echo, get in here! Nia is going to challenge Clarke!” he squealed rather excitedly. He slipped back into the house, as did most of the people that were hanging outside when they heard the news.

The crowd around the beer pong table grew twice the size when word traveled.

“Nia is a fourth year. It’s rare to see Clarke at a party, so she challenges her when she can,” Echo explained.

“I heard there was a champion.”

Echo laughed. “Yup.”

“Nia?”

Echo didn’t answer her. “You should watch. It might be a once in a lifetime chance.”

Lexa followed Echo into the house; they both battled their way through the crowd, squeezing through shirtless bodies, and sweaty bodies. They made their way to the center where Nia, a gorgeous pale girl with black hair and piercing brown eyes, squared off against Clarke. Clarke was on her end of the table and Nia was on the other end. Bellamy was off to the side, as well as Raven, Octavia, Jasper, and Monty.

“Yo,” Raven greeted Lexa with a nudge. “Decide to come inside for the show?”

Lexa observed the restless crowd; they either chanted Nia or Clarke’s name. It sounded evenly matched.

“Is this tradition or something?”

“It is for this frat. They have a whole board of victors. Sometimes they hold tournaments,” Raven answered.

Lexa grew curious. “How are your champions chosen?”

“A champion is named when the current champion is beat in a best of seven.”

“How long as Nia been champion?” Lexa asked, keeping her eye on Clarke and the girl across from her.

Raven began to chuckle. “Nia hasn’t been champion since Clarke came along.”

Lexa’s eyes widened. “You mean—“ A roar from the crowd cut her off, and when she turned her attention to the beer pong match, she saw Nia take out a ping pong ball from one of her cups before chugging its contents.

The victor was obvious; Nia could only sink in three cups, while Clarke sank nine. With Nia on her last cup and the ball in Clarke’s hand, it was obvious what was going to happen next.

When Clarke won and the crowd chanted her name, Nia begrudgingly walked away. Clarke high fived some of the cheering crowd, and then she high fived her friends, Octavia, Bellamy, Jasper, and Monty. When her gaze landed on Lexa, she practically threw herself on her.

“Lexa!” Clarke wrapped her arms around her.

Lexa was almost pushed back from the force of the hug. “Hello, Clarke.”

The blonde nuzzled the brunette’s neck and sighed in content, clearly oblivious to the crowd surrounding them. “Mmmm, you smell nice,” she murmured against her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

“Looks like she’s about to be down for the count,” Raven said as she came around to pat the blonde on the back.

“That, or she’s about to jump Lexa,” Octavia nudged her.

“Monty, why don’t you go get some water for Clarke,” Bellamy suggested. “Sober her up a little bit.”

“Sure,” Monty nodded.

Lexa ushered Clarke towards one of the couches, and fed her some water every now and then. Meanwhile, Octavia and Raven were having their own battle of beer pong, except with hard liquor. The two were practically hammered after three rounds.

As the night dwindled down and most of the crowd left, Clarke was found fast asleep on Lexa’s shoulder, and Octavia and Raven were both nursing water bottles. All three of them were slurring their words when Lexa, Jasper, and Monty carried them to the car.

“Thanks again for driving them home,” a dark brown haired boy said to Lexa.

She recognized him from when Clarke walked her to the bookstore. They looked close when they hugged and exchanged a few words. She was surprised to see he was nearly sober.

“It’s no problem,” Lexa replied politely.

“Raven told me you didn’t want to come tonight.” There was a smirk on his face. “Kind of glad you did so I wouldn’t have to deal with them in the morning. Clarke gets all grumpy when she wakes up.”

He made it sound like they were very close, maybe intimately. Lexa pushed the slight tinge of jealousy to the back of her mind.

“I’ll make sure to take care of them.”

“Thanks, Lexa. The name’s Bellamy, by the way. Octavia’s brother.” Lexa merely nodded in acknowledgement. He waved as the four of them left the frat house.

* * *

 **Anya:** how was the party little sis?

 **Lexa:** It was fine

 **Anya:** …

 **Anya:** that’s it?

 **Anya:** just fine?

 **Anya:** no details about some hot girls or throwing up?

 **Anya:** NOTHING!?

 **Lexa:** I should’ve never told you I was going.

And do you really have to send one word per text?

 **Anya:** you’re a butt btw.

 **Lexa:** Always the mature one.

 **Anya:** did you at least get buzzed?

 **Lexa:** No. I was the DD.

 **Anya:** wat

 **Anya:** one little sip wouldn’t have killed you, you know

 **Lexa:** I’m aware.

 **Anya:** okay, if you didn’t drink, what did you do at that party?

 **Anya:** hardcore drugs?

 **Anya:** LSD?

 **Anya:** LEXA. DID YOU DO BATH SALTS!?

 **Lexa:** Relax, Anya. I did nothing of the sorts.

I kept an eye on my friends.

 **Anya:** oh, friends, you say?

 **Anya:** can I meet them?

 **Anya:** are they the bad kind?

 **Anya:** are they giving you drugs?

 **Anya:** please don’t tell me they’re druggies.

 **Lexa:** Why do you always assume I’m doing drugs?

 **Anya:** just speculation.

 **Lexa:** And no, you cannot meet them.

 **Anya:** awwwww… why not?

 **Lexa:** You’ll embarrass me.

 **Anya:** are any of them cute?

 **Lexa:** I’m not answering that.

 **Anya:** I’ll take that as a yes.

 **Anya:** so, tell me about your night. Did you at least have fun?

 **Lexa:** It wasn’t what I expected, but yes, I had fun.

 **Anya:** So, who is this Clarke girl?

 **Lexa:** What—how—stop stalking my Facebook, Anya!

 **Anya:** hehehehe. So, who is she? She’s very pretty.

Oh wow, Biology. And she paints. Is she single?

 **Lexa:** She is not yours, Anya.

 **Anya:** OOOOOH

 **Lexa:** I mean, she is no one’s to claim!

 **Anya:** LEXA HAS A GIRLFRIEND!

 **Lexa:** She is not my girlfriend. We are just friends.

 **Anya:** That’s what you always say.

That’s what you said about Costia.

 **Lexa:** …I’m going to bed. Good night, Anya.

 **Anya:** Wait, Lexa. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring her up…

 **Anya:** So, Clarke, huh?

 **Lexa:** Go to bed.

 **Anya:** Yeah, yeah. Love you, too, little sis.

* * *

Clarke woke up the next morning with a loud and painful groan.

“Damn, why did I drink so much?” She whispered curtly.

She found Advil and a glass of water on her desk; she popped the pills and drank as much water as she could in one gulp, but she knew a couple pain killers wouldn’t cure her hangover.

When she emerged from her room, she found Octavia and Raven on the couch, mindlessly watching some cooking show.

“Hey, you guys,” Clarke said.

Octavia winced. “Not so loud.” She snuggled further into her blanket.

“What time is it?” Clarke walked towards the kitchen to fetch something to eat.

Raven’s head lolled to the side to check her phone. “Noon.”

“Damn,” Clarke muttered.

“Good job on beating Nia again, by the way,” Raven held out her fist towards Clarke, and Clarke wrapped her hand around it.

“Stick shift,” Clarke said casually as she jerked Raven’s fist around. “And thanks.”

“I literally blinked and the match was over,” Octavia said as she looked up at Clarke. “I’m so proud. I’m a proud mama.”

Clarke ruffled Octavia’s hair. “Thanks, Babe.”

“So, when are you and Lexa going on a date?”

Clarke’s eyes widened. “Oh no…”

“Oh yes!” Raven cheered, and all three of them winced in pain.

“Jesus, Raven. Use your hangover voice,” Octavia scolded her.

“Sorry…”

Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and let out a sigh. “Okay, please tell me I didn’t do anything embarrassing last night.”

Raven rested her chin in the palm of her hand and gazed at Clarke in admiration. “Worried you might’ve confessed something to her?”

“No…” Clarke blinked. “At least I hope not.” Raven raised her eyebrow. “There is nothing to confess, Raven.”

“Uh huh,” Raven replied knowingly. “Well, other than practically clinging onto Lexa’s arm the whole night, you didn’t do anything I would say was embarrassing, but our definition of embarrassing are completely different.”

Clarke shot her a look. “Did I do anything I’d later regret?”

Octavia answered this time, “You did sniff her and tell her she smelled amazing.”

“What!?” Clarke shouted, and then all three of them winced in pain, again.

“Jesus, Clarke…” Raven cursed.

“Sorry, sorry…” Clarke apologized. “I can’t believe I said that to her…”

Octavia shrugged. “Well, she kind of did smell nice.”

“Yeah,” Raven agreed. “I’ll have to ask her what kind of shampoo or perfume she uses.”

“You could ask her tonight during our weekly cram-sesh,” Octavia pointed out.

Clarke groaned inwardly. “Ah, damn. I forgot about that…”

Raven stretched her arms behind her back and rested them against the back of her head. “I mean, you did admit she was attractive.”

“Yes, but that does not mean I want to date her, Raven,” Clarke explained.

“Give it time, Clarkey.” Raven changed the channel a few times.

“Why don’t you date her?”

“I’m clearly not her type,” Raven answered. “Her type is a sexy blonde with gorgeous blue eyes, who is also a medical student, an artist, and a beer pong champion.”

Clarke had enough of their teasing at that point and grumbled lowly, “I’m going back to bed.” She left the living room and took a bottle of water with her to her room. She closed the door as silently as she could, but emerged a minute or two later with a confused look on her face. “Uh, guys…” she paused. They were all hammered last night, and probably past the point of wasted, so the list of people were short. Her gaze slowly raised to meet her two friends. “…Who changed me into my pajamas last night?”

* * *

Later that night, when Lexa came over to do some homework, Clarke asked her the same question. She wasn’t secretly hoping it was Lexa, even though she wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, but she did want to know the answer.

Lexa chuckled at the question. “I promise you. I didn’t.” Clarke looked confused. “I left you in your room for a few seconds while I went to go fetch some Advil and water. By the time I got back, your pants were halfway down your legs and your shirt was tossed to the side.”

Clarke’s eyes widened at the image and her face went bright red. Raven and Octavia were bursting out laughing, and Monty and Jasper were trying to hide the huge smiles on their faces.

Lexa continued, “You were laying down on your bed and sloppily trying to wiggle out of your pants. You mumbled ‘pajamas’ a few times, so I took the first pair of sweats and t-shirt I could find. I left after I handed them to you, so you must’ve passed out after you changed.”

Clarke buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. “Oh my god…”

Raven had to wipe the tears away from her eyes. “Oh god, haha, that’s amazing.”

Lexa thought Clarke looked cute with her face in her hands, her knees tucked up to her chest, and her small repeated chants of ‘no’.

“I cannot believe this…” Clarke shook her head.

“I thought it was cute,” Lexa reassured Clarke. “I can’t say I’ve seen worse, though.”

“We’ve only known each other for a couple weeks and you’ve already seen me naked.” Clarke nodded in half amusement and half embarrassment. “Great,” she added sarcastically.

“And you never told me you were a beer pong champion,” Lexa added as she beamed at Clarke; her smile was as heart stopping to Clarke as Clarke’s adorable, raspy laugh was to Lexa.

Clarke laughed, trying to shake off the embarrassment. “Not exactly the kind of thing I want to brag about.”

“It was an amazing feat last night, I must admit,” Lexa replied. “Bragging rights should definitely come with the title.”

Clarke winced at the remembrance. “Ah, yeah… and I’m sorry about… uh… sniffing you and... you know.” She gestured with her hands.

“It would’ve been worse if you said I smelled terrible, so I’m glad I smelled decent enough to be complimented.”

Raven and Octavia’s eyes were bouncing back and forth between the pair as they chatted amongst themselves. Octavia whispered something in Raven’s ear and Raven flashed a toothy grin, right before she returned an agreeing nod.

After spending more time chatting, and less time studying, the group ended the night with Chinese take-out. After everyone hugged each other good-bye, Clarke walked Lexa out, just like last time. Raven and Octavia were fighting over if they should ‘observe them from afar’.

“Thank you for inviting me over again, Clarke,” Lexa said as she turned around to face the blonde.

Clarke stuffed her hands in her coat’s pockets. “It’s no problem, really.” She was trying not to get lost in Lexa’s green eyes, but she was already in too deep. “I thought you wouldn’t want to come, especially after what happened last night.”

Lexa laughed. “It takes a lot more than that to scare me away, Clarke.”

“They’re fair warnings, Lexa,” Clarke replied with a small smile. “We are a crazy bunch.”

Lexa nodded. “Duly noted. Good night, Clarke.”

“Night, Lexa.”

They hugged exactly like last time; Clarke’s arms were around Lexa’s neck, and Lexa’s arms were wrapped around Clarke’s waist. The only difference was the amount of time they stayed in each other’s embrace; it was longer. Much longer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa wants to ask Clarke out on a date, and consults Anya and Raven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone!
> 
> (Ahh, what happened to the line breaks!?)

It took six weeks for Lexa to succumb to the idea that she was more than attracted to the blonde haired and blue eyed goddess.

At first it came in small sparks, starting with the gentle brush of hands, and the goosebumps that shook her body whenever she and Clarke bumped shoulders. And then those sparks turned into fireworks; the blossoming warmth whenever she heard Clarke’s raspy laughter, and the aroused feeling between her legs whenever Clarke swore out loud.

It didn’t get any better when she and Clarke regularly bumped into each other on campus. There were times when they’d get lunch and Lexa would bury her face in her food to avoid falling deeper in Clarke’s gorgeous blue eyes. She hoped Clarke wouldn’t notice. Thankfully, a few of Clarke’s friends stopped by to say hello, giving her ample time to give herself a pep talk.

 _There’s nothing to worry about, right? We’re just friends. Yes. Just good friends. A friend that I happen to be wildly attracted to, because her blue eyes are nothing like the ocean – they’re far better than the ocean. They’re as beautiful and deep as the universe, and bluer than the sky will ever be._ Lexa groaned inwardly. _Jesus Christ, Lexa, you are so fucking gay._

She managed to survive the entire duration of lunch and let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding until she waved good-bye to the blonde.

Later that night, when she tried to prepare for her midterms, she couldn’t get Clarke’s face out of her head. She couldn’t stop thinking about her lips, her eyes, her blonde hair, or her smile that mimicked the sun.

 **Lexa:** Anya… I need your help.

 **Anya:** what’s up little sis?

 **Lexa:** Are you busy?

 **Anya:** Nope.

 **Anya:** I can’t help with anything drug related, just sayin

 **Lexa:** For the last time, Anya. I’m not doing drugs.

 **Anya:** hehe I’m just teasing. Whatcha need?

Lexa typed out ‘I’m falling for her’. She erased it quickly. ‘I can’t stop thinking about her’. She erased that, too. It took her a couple minutes to finally send a response.

 **Lexa:** I think I like Clarke.

A second didn’t even pass by when Lexa’s phone began vibrated and Anya’s dorky face filled the whole screen. Lexa sighed in annoyance before she answered the call.

“You didn’t have to call me—“ Lexa tried to say.

“—I FUCKING KNEW IT.” Lexa heard Anya’s laughter blast through the receiver, causing her to wince. Lexa had to remove her phone from her ear to avoid damaging her eardrums. “YOU LIKE HER!” Anya laughed again.

“Do you have to do that?” Lexa asked flatly.

“What, I can’t be happy for my gay little sister?” Anya replied happily. “I’m just glad you’re getting out there after what happened. So, why do you need my help? I’m not a great wedding planner, but I can do my best—”

Lexa sighed as she leaned back on her bed. “—I don’t want to feel like this.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh, fuck you, Lexa,” Anya spat angrily. “You are not backing out of this.”

“Anya—“

“—No. You like this girl and I can tell, because you sound like the same love sick puppy that first told me about Costia.” Lexa grimaced at the mention of her ex, but Anya wasn’t having any of her shit to care. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by avoiding your feelings.”

“I don’t do feelings. You know that.”

“No. You don’t do feelings, because you’re afraid of getting hurt,” Anya corrected her.

Lexa swore she wouldn’t shed any more tears for her ex. “She… She left me, Anya.”

“I know,” Anya replied with sympathy laced in her voice. “But you need to move on. There’s nothing wrong with asking Clarke out on a date.”

“No.” Lexa shook her head. “Absolutely not. I am not asking her.”

Anya sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes talking to Lexa was like talking to a brick wall, especially when it involved relationships. “Well, you can’t expect to wait for her to make the first move if she doesn’t know you have feelings for her.”

“I don’t even know if she likes me like that, Anya.”

“Which is why you’re going to ask her on a date.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!” Lexa hissed.

“Lex, Honey,” Anya said sweetly. “I will fly down there and ask Clarke out for you if you don’t do it yourself. And don’t think I won’t do it!”

Lexa remembered when Anya friended Costia on Facebook just to tell her that Lexa liked her. It was beyond embarrassing. She was mad at Anya for a month, and she could barely look at Costia at school. Thankfully, the only people that made fun of her for Anya’s little stint was her and Costia’s small group of friends. Other than that, no one else knew, which Lexa was really grateful for. The last thing she wanted was for everyone in High School to know that her sister was the one that instigated her first real relationship.

“She might not share the same feelings,” Lexa muttered sadly.

“So?” Anya rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to ask her out to dinner. Start small. Ask her out for coffee, y’know, to get to know her.”

Lexa rubbed her temple. “It’s embarrassing that I’m asking you for advice.”

Anya laughed. “Better me than mom or dad, right?”

Lexa smirked. “Yeah.”

“Remember, slow and steady. And try to stay away from the giant squid facts you spew whenever you’re nervous. You don’t want to scare her off.”

“Hey,” Lexa huffed. “I resent that.”

“I’m going to head to bed soon. Tell me how it goes, okay?”

The problem wasn’t asking Clarke out; it was _when_ she should ask her out. “Okay…” Lexa groaned as her phone fell in her lap. She had a love-hate relationship with feelings; feelings made things complicated, and complications made things stressful. As much as she hated facing her feelings, she knew Anya was right; it was time to move on and forget about Costia.

And Lexa had to admit that whenever she thought about Clarke, Costia was far away from her train of thought.

If she wanted to ask Clarke out, she’d need help. She would need some sort of guidance. She didn’t want to go in head first and end up in a dead end.

-_-_-

“Whoa, nice place,” Raven said as she crossed the threshold of Lexa’s dorm room.

There was a pile of law books neatly stacked on top of a small dresser; there was no visible mess of any kind, and the bed was perfectly made. There were a few pictures (Raven assumed it was family) pinned to the wall next to the desk, and there were small blue lights strung around the ceiling, giving it a very homely, yet playful, atmosphere.

“So, what was so important that you couldn’t tell me over the phone?” Raven asked as she made herself at home on Lexa’s bed.

Lexa was terrified, and she had every right to be, because Raven was one of Clarke’s closest friends. If she messed up with Clarke, Raven would be right there by her side, and vice-versa. Lexa nervously fiddled with the hem of her shirt as the thought of confessing her feelings for the blonde to Raven invaded her mind.

Lexa held her breath and closed her eyes. “Okay, I’m just going to say it—“

“You like Clarke?”

Lexa opened her eyes to find a sly smirk appear on Raven’s lips. “How—“

Raven put her hands behind her head and leaned against the wall. “I guessed, but I also had a hunch, and I’ve been waiting for this day for forever – we all have, actually.”

“What—“ Lexa shook her head in disbelief. “Who is ‘we’?”

“Who else?” Raven sat up straight. “Me, Octavia, and Monty—Jasper wasn’t really interested. I was kind of sad you didn’t say something sooner, because we had to adjust all of our bets.”

Lexa furrowed her eyebrows. “Bets?”

Raven waved her hand in dismissal. “Insignificant details. So, what’d you need? Want me to push Clarke in your direction?” Raven waggled her eyebrows at the brunette. “Or do you want me to set you guys up? Because Octavia and I can totally do that.” Lexa thought Raven sounded more and more enthusiastic as time went on.

“I just…” Lexa tried to find the right words. “…I want to do things right.”

Raven raised her eyebrows and grinned. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her.

“I need some advice and since you’re Clarke’s friend, I figured—“

“—Hell yeah, I’ll help you.” Raven nodded.

Lexa’s eyes lit up. “Yeah?”

“Of course.” Raven nodded again. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t meddle in Clarke’s personal life?”

Lexa smiled in amusement. “Thank you, Raven.”

After some thought about the perfect plan, Raven’s eyes went wide and her smile grew. “We’re all getting together on Tuesday to study for the big midterm, right?” Lexa nodded. “Why don’t you ask Clarke then? Ask her what she’s doing on Saturday, or something. It’s perfect.”

Lexa was partial to the idea. “I suppose that could work.”

Raven held the brunette by her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Lexa. Just think about where you’re going to take her when she says ‘yes’.”

The thought alone made her stomach do somersaults and her heart skip a beat. A smile played on her lips before it broke into one of the widest smiles she’s ever had.

Raven sighed lovingly at the goofy smile. “I love bringing people together. It’s like Christmas for me.”

-_-_-

Clarke shook her head. “Mm, no.”

Jasper groaned in frustration. “Why not?”

“Because you can’t assume Kane is going to put that on the test.”

He narrowed his eyes at the blonde. “You’ve seen the test, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have, and I am not giving you any hints or clues,” Clarke began. “I’m trying to prepare you for the test, which means you must know all of the major topics in all six chapters. What I would do is go through every chapter and write down all of the key points, and thoroughly jot down any information that go along with it.”

Jasper muttered multiple curse words under his breath as he flipped to the first chapter.

Clarke was mildly amused at his anger. She turned to Raven and Lexa who were in the middle of exchanging glances. Raven was trying to give Lexa the signal, but Lexa was too scared to make the first move. It was also in the middle of midterm madness, which didn’t help because they were both too engrossed with the ‘ask her out’ plan to pay attention and actually study.

“How are you guys doing?” Clarke asked them.

“I’m fine,” Raven muttered before she buried her face into her book. She gave Lexa a nudge, but Lexa didn’t budge.

“So far so good,” Lexa replied quietly.

 _Oh for fucks sake, Lexa._ Raven thought. _What happened to the plan we talked about?_ She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Hey, Clarke.”

“Hm?” Clarke hummed a reply at Raven. She was in the middle of studying for one of her other Biology classes.

“What are you doing on Saturday?”

It felt like Lexa’s heart stopped beating; she was a reply away from asking the blonde out on a small date, and she was both excited and terrified. She recited the words in her head a million times the night before, and although she was too scared to initiate it, the thought of following through made her anxious.

Clarke replied nonchalantly, “I actually have a date that day.”

Raven’s eyes widened. “What?” She then furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief. “With who?”

“Kate. She’s in Kane’s lab.” Clarke gestured to Lexa. “Lexa knows her.”

Raven turned to Lexa, and she could practically hear the brunette’s heart shatter; she felt absolutely heartbroken for her. For the past couple days, Lexa consulted Raven with her nervousness, because it’s been quite a while since she’s had feelings for someone else. Raven, of course, told her she had nothing to worry about, and for the longest time, she thought she didn’t, because Clarke was as closed off as Lexa when it came to dating.

Yes, Lexa knew her, and she had to admit she was beautiful.

Kate was an Asian woman, high cheek bones, thin pink lips, and a smile that could kill. Her makeup was perfected to the very ‘T’. She’s seen her talk to Clarke a few times, but for some reason, she never felt threatened by her advances towards the blonde, well, not until she admitted to developing feelings for Clarke. She thought it was harmless small talk. She never thought it would end up in dating.

“Yes,” Lexa agreed. She lifted her head to face the blonde and tried as best as she could to mask the hundreds of emotions that were swirling within her; anger, pain, sadness, disbelief… it all ate at her heart until there was nothing left. To say she was heartbroken would be an understatement. “She’s very pretty.” It killed her to say those words out loud.

Raven wanted to lash out at Clarke, but there was no valid reason to. Clarke didn’t know that Lexa wanted to ask her out. All Raven could do was passively show her disapproval.

“Fine,” Raven huffed.

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows at her best friend’s negative behavior. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Nope,” Raven went back to her studies.

Clarke rolled her eyes. “You’re the one that told me to start dating people.”

Raven briefly looked up from her book. “I know nothing about this Kate girl, though, and I probably wouldn’t approve of her.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Clarke muttered.

The four of them studied in silence.

Lexa barely spoke during the rest of their study session, and Clarke still had no idea of Lexa’s feelings for her.

-_-_-

“I missed my chance,” Lexa mumbled in sorrow.

Anya felt bad for her. “It was just a wrong time.”

“I shouldn’t have waited so long.”

“There’s nothing you could’ve done, Lex.”

“I could’ve asked her out sooner.”

“There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

Lexa rolled her eyes. “I hate that analogy.”

“You can’t spell analogy without anal.”

“And I hate you, too.”

Anya always tried to cheer her up with terrible jokes whenever she felt like shit.

“Hey, It’s just a date,” Anya reminded her. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Or it means everything.”

“Stop being so negative.”

Lexa scoffed, “She’s going on a date with another woman, who happens to be really pretty and really smart, so excuse me for being negative—I mean she’s majoring in Electrical Engineering. How do I compete with that?”

“I think law is a lot sexier than engineering,” Anya tried to reassure her.

“Thanks, but you’re not Clarke.”

That’s when Anya realized it. “You really like Clarke, don’t you?”

When Lexa looked at Clarke, she saw the sun, the moon, the stars, and everything in between. She wanted to take her on dates, make her laugh, and tell her corny pickup lines.

“I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's a lot of angst up ahead.
> 
> Say hi @ tripnskip.tumblr


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa's solution to coping involves alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S OKAY. EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY. DON'T WORRY.

Lexa, Raven, and Jasper, as well as the other students, filed into the lecture room and sat down in their regular seats. Clarke was not present during the exam since Kane asked her to run some errands.

Lexa was lost in her own thoughts as Kane walked through the rows to pass out the exam. Her expression was stoic, but her heart was aching with every beat. Raven kept a lingering glance on the brunette and tried to offer her deepest sympathies.

Lexa blamed herself for being too slow to act on her feelings; she blamed herself for living in the aftermath of her past relationship and being too stubborn. She did not, and could not, blame Clarke.

There were certain questions on the exam where she could hear Clarke’s voice, giving one of her minute lectures on the same topic in their textbooks, and Lexa was quick to admit that she helped immensely.

The exam lasted an hour and ten minutes for her, which included looking over her answers before she turned it in.

Half the class had finished by the time she left, and as she walked up the stairs to exit the lecture hall, she intended on waiting for Raven and Jasper to finish. When she opened the door, she realized waiting was a big mistake, because Clarke was waiting off to the side.

“Hey, how was it?” Clarke asked with a smile that made Lexa shiver.

Lexa kept her stoic expression. “It was okay.”

Clarke’s laugh was small. “Just ‘okay’?”

“You taught us well.”

That made Clarke’s smile widen. “I’m glad you thought so. I guess all that studying last night paid off, huh?”

Lexa merely nodded. _How could she ever feel the same way?_

Clarke was not stupid, nor was she clueless. She knew there was a shift in the way the brunette acted towards her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, since it only began last night. She noticed Lexa was quiet throughout the entire study session and again when they all met up in the library before the exam to go over a few things.

“Is everything okay?” Clarke asked suddenly.

Lexa’s heart throbbed in her chest in sheer panic, but she held back the emotions that screamed for a way out. “Yes,” she replied simply.

Clarke knew that was a lie. She’s known Octavia and Raven long enough to know when something isn’t ‘okay’ or ‘fine’. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, but did not make eye contact.

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows worriedly. “Lexa—“ she began, but Raven’s inward groan that crashed through the doors cut her off, and Lexa was thankful it did, or else she would’ve ran.

“There’s a reason why I’m an engineer,” Raven huffed.

Clarke smirked, “I take it things didn’t go well?”

“They went as expected, Griffin,” Raven replied sourly.

“You act as if you didn’t pay attention during my lectures,” Clarke teased.

“Hey, I paid attention.”

“Did not.”

“I paid as much attention as I do in my other classes.”

“You were stuffing your face with pizza and texting Bellamy about how much of a bore I was,” Clarke argued.

Raven began to laugh. “Oh right.”

Clarke shook her head at her right as Jasper joined them.

“How was it, Jasper?” she asked.

Jasper shrugged. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Because Jasper here actually paid attention,” Clarke said proudly. “Unlike someone else I know.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “As long as I pass the class, I’m good.”

“Anyone else starving? All that studying made me hungry.” Jasper rubbed small circles in his stomach.

“Yeah, I could go for something to eat.” Raven nodded, and Clarke agreed.

Clarke turned to Lexa. “Want to join us?”

She shook her head. “I have another midterm to go to. I’ll see you guys later.” She quickly spun on her heels and walked away.

Raven frowned at her abrupt leave, but understood why. As much as she cheered her on in the past few days, she knew she had to respect Lexa’s wishes when she distanced herself from the blonde. Clarke, on the other hand, grew worried.

“Hey, is Lexa okay? She’s been acting kind of weird.”

Raven shrugged and lied, “She’s probably stressed from exams.”

Clarke hummed lowly. “Oh. Good point.”

-_-_-

It was Friday night; the night when all college kids celebrated the end of their first midterms, but Lexa did not celebrate.

The more Lexa thought about Clarke, the more she was angry with herself. She couldn’t remember when falling for someone that may, or may not, have shared the same feelings felt so painful. Ever since Clarke told them of her date, the ache in her chest never stopped.

Raven was the only one who understood how she felt.

Octavia knew bits and pieces, but she didn’t see the brunette enough to express her sympathies, and even though Monty and Jasper knew, they didn’t know her well enough to comfort her.

Lexa knew it was stupid of her to fall so hard for someone, and she knew it was going to kill her until she found a way to cope with it. But, how long would it take for her to get over Clarke? If it was anything like her last relationship, it would take as long as it needed to take. That was her curse; she convinced herself she was reluctant to fall for someone, but when she did, she fell hard.

She called up Raven that night, wanting to forget.

“A few friends and I are going out tomorrow night to celebrate. You want to join us?”

She knew Raven wasn’t talking about a get together, or a movie night; she knew a ‘night out’ with Raven meant hard liquor, enough to render an elephant unconscious.

That night was also the night Clarke would be on her date.

Lexa didn’t hesitate to say yes.

-_-_-

The club shook relentlessly to the beat of the music that boomed from all corners of the place.

Lexa, Raven, Bellamy, Echo, and a few people that Lexa did not know, walked through the front, easily bypassing the bouncer with Echo’s charisma.

Bellamy barked a few orders at Raven, none of which Lexa could hear, and then the group split up by gender. Lexa found herself with Raven and Echo, and one of Bellamy’s friends, hanging around the bar. They ordered a few drinks, shouting as loud as they could to get their orders to the bartenders, and paid with cash.

They carried their drinks to one of the tables and let their eyes survey the room. Men of all statures noticed them, but only a few were brave enough to approach them.

A man with a rugged beard, and dressed sharper than the tip of a needle, pulled Raven to the dance floor. Another man came up to them and tried to flirt with Lexa, but with one phrase, the man knew he was playing a game he could not win. Echo was the only one that laughed at the man’s face of defeat when he walked away.

Lexa knew it wasn’t a gay club, but she wanted to drink as much as her body allow her, or as much as she could so she could forget about the blonde goddess. And Anya encouraged her to loosen up a little, so that’s what she convinced herself she was doing when downed her first drink.

She ordered another, and another, and another, and another. And on the fifth drink, she met a blonde that resembled a little bit like the one she was trying to get over in whatever stage of tipsiness she was currently in. They chatted, laughed, flirted and let their hands brush together more than once. After a hard searing kiss laced with the lingering alcohol in their mouths, they moved things to a hallway off to the side.

The blonde pushed her against the wall and pressed her thigh between her legs, eliciting a small moan between kisses. Lexa kissed her hard and moaned out loud when the blonde bit her bottom lip. She was far from gone; the alcohol was deep in her stomach and making her do things she wouldn’t do when sober, but she didn’t care. She wanted to forget and this was her way to forgetting, by engrossing herself in another person, and kissing someone she barely knew and whose name was never mentioned.

When the blonde pulled back for air, Lexa looked her over with clouded eyes, wanting to lose herself in the person pressed against her as much as possible, but her eyes showed her someone else – someone who judged her through blue eyes that were once compared to the universe around them.

_Clarke._

Lexa’s imagination, combined with a lot of alcohol, showed her the truth. Clarke would never approve of her actions or her reasoning for doing something so out of character. She would’ve argued that there were other ways of coping other than drinking one’s self into a stupor.

Lexa muttered an apology to the blonde, whose name she still did not know and didn’t care to know, and tore herself away from the hallway. She did not see that blonde again that night.

She held herself up with one hand braced against the wall, breathed in gasps, and tried to calm the unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. As the club continued to bounce to the harsh bass of an electronic song, so did her heart; it throbbed in her chest, unrelenting and painful.

Her solution, as mindless as it seemed, was to drink, and drink and drink, until she couldn’t feel anymore. After another round of hard liquor, she threw herself back into the pit of bodies and ended up taking more than a couple body shots off of beautiful women whose names she didn’t bother to care for.

Raven, who didn’t drink nearly as enough as she did, had to help her into Bellamy’s car later that night. Her head lolled back and forth as she spewed incomprehensible facts about giant squids.

She didn’t realize where Bellamy was dropping them off until she recognized the scent of the same intoxicating shampoo she so desperately wanted to forget.

Raven almost dropped Lexa onto the couch, and chuckled.

“Damn, you drink a lot,” she said as she laughed at the brunette, who struggled to find a comfy position on the stiff cushions.

“Did you guys have fun at the club?” A familiar voice came from the hallway.

Lexa’s head tipped back to find an upside-down Clarke, wearing a t-shirt and sweats, staring back at her. “Clarkey,” she said with a small slur of her words. “Hi, Clarkey.”

“Hi, Lexa.” Clarke found Lexa’s intoxicated state amusing. Lexa reached for Clarke’s hand and when Clarke humored her, Lexa refused to let go.

“Jesus, Raven. What did you do to her?” Clarke tried to wiggle her hand out of the brunette’s grasp, but she protested in small, cute whines.

“I did nothing, Princess,” Raven teased. Clarke rolled her eyes at the nickname she thought was all but forgotten. “I didn’t see her until the end of the night. Lexa was practically drooling over all the women. Echo said saw her do four body shots off of some chicks near the bar.”

Clarke raised her eyebrows in surprise; she never thought Lexa would do such a thing given how guarded she made herself out to be. She turned to the brunette and noticed how sleepy she looked.

“How much did you drink?”

Lexa caressed Clarke’s hand, enjoying the comforting warmth and the softness of her skin. “One.”

“One?” Clarke chuckled.

“A really big one.”

“How big?”

Lexa finally let go of Clarke’s hand, and gestured with her hands, extending one out as far as her arms would allow. “This big.”

Clarke laughed. “That’s pretty big.”

“Yeah…” Lexa sounded sad.

Clarke took a seat on the small table in front of the sofa to face the brunette. “What’s wrong?” she asked with a small frown.

Lexa could easily rest her head in the blonde’s lap, given their close proximity, but she didn’t; her eyes were too fixated on a blonde strand that begged to be tucked behind her ear. “I kissed someone,” she confessed.

Clarke denied the pang in her chest. “Yeah? Did you get her number?”

Lexa’s eyes moved to Clarke’s mesmerizing eyes and shook her head.

“How come?”

Her mouth parted slightly and her mouth went dry, just as her eyes lowered to Clarkes lips – her thin, pink, and really kissable lips.

“Because she wasn’t…” Lexa began as she leaned in closer to her. Clarke didn’t realize how close she was until she felt Lexa’s hot breath, that reeked of tequila, ghost over her lips. “...She wasn’t you.”

The realization hit Clarke like a train, but before she could fully comprehend what she said, Lexa’s lips were brushing against hers, teasing the notion of what she desperately wanted Clarke to know for the past week.

“No, Lexa, stop—“

At the last possible second before their lips would press together, Clarke pushed against her shoulder, and when she heard Clarke’s disapproving words, her heart completely shattered, and with no intention of being rebuilt.

To Lexa, Clarke made it verbally (when she said ‘no’) and physically (when she pushed her away) clear that she did not share the same feelings. And as the truth sank deeper into the bowels of her stomach and the pit of her heart, it felt like she was dying.

Clarke saw the sting of rejection in Lexa’s darkened green eyes, but didn’t know what to say.

“Here, let me get you a blanket,” she said quickly.

Clarke moved off the table and expected to see Raven’s eyes on them, but her best friend was passed out and laying sideways on a couple of chairs in the dining area. She cursed Raven for not being awake and rummaged through her closet for a blanket.

When she returned to the living room, she found Lexa dead asleep. What she didn’t see was the single tear that had rolled down the brunette’s cheek.

Clarke had set the blanket aside and carefully slipped off Lexa’s heels. She ignored the questions that collected in her mind and swallowed the guiltiness that was caught in her throat. She draped the blanket over the brunette, and left a glass of water and a couple tablets of Advil on the table. She didn’t have an extra pillow, so she bundled up one of her sweatshirts and placed it under Lexa’s head.

She helped Raven to her room and dumped her on the bed before returning to the living room. Her guilty gaze lingered on the brunette before she flipped the lights off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i will most likely update tomorrow (unless something comes up).
> 
> say hi @ tripnskip.tumblr


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and Clarke confront their feelings for each other (finally).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I said i would update yesterday (or was it two days ago), but a hockey game happened (and my lovely laziness). So sorry!
> 
> I love all of the comments. I'm so glad people have been enjoying the story! :)

Lexa woke with a throbbing headache that scolded her for what happened the previous night. She cradled her head in one hand while the other twisted in the blanket in attempts to suppress the pain. She cursed under her breath multiple times, vowing never to drink copious amounts of alcohol ever again, before she realized where she was.

She knew where she was.

She remembered what she did the night before (every second of it). She remembered kissing, body shots – a lot of body shots – and tons of alcohol. The only thing she hadn’t remembered was the car ride back to Raven’s apartment.

Raven’s apartment.

Raven.

Clarke.

She then remembered what happened between her and Clarke, and that memory did more damage than her headache.

She remembered holding Clarke’s hand and refusing to let go.

She remembered telling Clarke about kissing someone. Clarke asked her if she got her number. She shook her head, and then Clarke asked why not.

And then she remembers leaning in, telling her the reason why she couldn’t stomach any of the women that night, and inching ever so closely to the lips she had wanted to kiss for the past week. And then she remembers feeling hands on her shoulders, pushing her away, and words of rejection that burned holes in her heart. She remembered being on the brink of tears, right before she passed out.

Tears fell at the remembrance, and Lexa was quick to wipe them away.

The blanket was brown, soft and warm, but as much as she wanted to snuggle back under it and wallow in her self-pity, she couldn’t stay – especially with the face of her anxiety living down the hallway.

Lexa folded back the blanket and slipped off the couch. She didn’t know what time it was, and she didn’t care, because all she wanted to do is survive the day without breaking into pieces. She slipped on her shoes and shrugged on the sweatshirt that she had used as a pillow the night before. She didn’t care, nor did she think to care, where the sweatshirt came from. The only thing she wanted to do was leave as soon as possible.

She did not take the capsule on the table and she did not drink the water.

Clarke woke up two hours after Lexa, but she lay in bed for several minutes. She was thinking about what she wanted to say to the brunette, because the previous night, the almost-kiss, was more than just a confession. She rehearsed her thoughts multiple times before she hopped out of bed and opened her bedroom door.

She padded down the hallway with tousled blonde hair and nervous blue eyes. “Lexa?“ She stopped in her tracks when she realized the sofa was bare. Her blanket was folded somewhat neatly, and the glass of water was still full with the pill next to it untouched. Clarke let out a frustrated sigh and scratched the back of her head. _She ran._

Lexa slept most of the day away in her room, half getting over the hangover, and half letting herself get swallowed in the black hole of her own misery and depression.

When she awoke several hours later, she had five missed calls and two text messages from Clarke, three missed calls and fifteen text messages from Raven, three text messages from Anya, and one missed call from her dad.

She struggled to get up from her bed and ended up tossing her phone to the side.

After a much needed hour long shower, she returned to her phone and checked all of her messages except the ones from Clarke.

 **Raven:** Hey

 **Raven:** Clarke told me what happened last night

 **Raven:** Are you okay?

 **Raven:** Text me later okay?

 **Raven:** Please Lexa

Lexa sighed as her depression sank deeper in the pit of her stomach.

 **Raven:** You up?

 **Raven:** You’re not answering any of my calls

 **Raven:** I assume you’re still asleep

 **Raven:** how the hell did you walk back to your place

 **Raven:** you drank a fucking lot last night

 **Raven:** you coming over for the cram session tonight? We’re going to have Chinese take-out. Clarke is offering to go over the midterm before we get it back on Wednesday.

Lexa’s mouth parted and her heart ached at the mention of the blonde. The last thing she wanted was to get caught up in her emotions with her friends around. She texted back even though Raven’s text was almost an hour old.

 **Lexa:** I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it tonight.

She read through Anya’s texts, she called her dad back, and then she discarded her phone. She felt empty inside. She didn’t want to interact with anyone that night. She didn’t feel like explaining to Anya what happened, and she didn’t feel like informing her parents of her personal life. She wanted to talk to someone about it, but at the same time, she didn’t. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and read one of her mystery novels, or maybe watch a movie or a documentary. She didn’t want to worry about her classes, or Monday morning – especially Monday morning.

She fell asleep in front of her laptop later that night.

-_-_-

Clarke meant to talk to Lexa before or after Biology class, but she never got the chance to. The brunette came to class at the last second and left at the first possible moment. When she stole glances at her, she saw sorrow, misery, and emptiness. Those green eyes were darkened and protected by walls higher than The Great Wall of China.

Clarke joined Raven and Jasper after talking with Kane about something. They talked amongst themselves before Jasper parted ways with them (he mentioned something he had to do with Maya).

“She hasn’t called or texted me back,” Clarke mentioned as she and Raven walked towards Campus Center. Raven hummed in acknowledgement, but did not answer. She wasn’t mad at Clarke, nor did she take sides. She just didn’t like how things turned out.

Moments later, she caved. “What do you want me to say, Clarke?” Raven asked in slight frustration.

“Has she said anything to you?”

“Nope.”

Clarke sighed; she felt absolutely guilty.

“And before you ask, I’m not helping you trap her in a corner.”

“Raven—“

“This is between you and her, Clarke, and no one else.” Raven’s eyes met hers.

“How could you not tell me?” Clarke asked angrily. She was upset, confused, and she couldn’t keep her emotions bottled up any longer.

“What?” Raven paused to survey her best friend. “That Lexa liked you?” She didn’t need a confirmation. “Because it’s not my job to tell you, Clarke. It was hers, and she made it very clear she wanted to do things the right way. She wanted to ask you out, but then you already had a date with—“

“—Kate.” Clarke’s eyes widened as the realization hit her.

Raven stopped in her tracks and faced her. “Look, I know things are really messed up right now. We can all agree that Lexa made terrible choices the other night, and whether you meant to or not, you pushed her away, and she took that as a sign of rejection. Now, you can woman up and talk to her, or you can run away from your feelings and let things play out. We both know Lexa is choosing to run, so either you run after her, or… you don’t. It’s your choice, Griffin.”

Clarke let out a heavy frustrated sigh and ran her hand through her hair.

She tried reaching out to Lexa one more time, but her calls were never answered and her texts were never replied to.

She did not see, nor speak, to Lexa on Tuesday.

Wednesday was the same as Monday; Lexa would come to Biology class at the last minute and then leave at the first second of dismissal. Clarke didn’t need to see Lexa’s reaction to know what she got on the test, because she already knew all of her friends’ scores.

(The test was curved, bringing Raven and Jasper to a B, and Lexa to an A)

Thursday’s lab was no different. Lexa came in at the last second, but she did not look at the blonde, nor did she acknowledge her. She did her lab with her partner, jotted down data, and then left. Clarke never had the chance to talk to her. Kate, on the other hand, was more than willing to talk to Clarke.

Friday was as uneventful as Tuesday.

On Saturday, Clarke woke up early and did some homework to prepare for her study group at the library. As she walked across the barren campus, she had almost wished she bumped into a certain brunette. She wasn’t surprised when she didn’t.

All of her thoughts of the brunette disappeared when she approached a study room full of some of her classmates. They all worked on their laptops, collaborating towards a midterm project that was due in a few days. They shared some laughs and some jokes, and some relaxing sessions of miscellaneous doodling on the whiteboards. They finished their project five hours later and said their good-byes.

Clarke saw Harper while she was walking towards the elevators, and decided to drop by and say hi. The two of them talked and caught up for a few minutes before Clarke decided to let her go back to her studies. There were no mentions of the green eyed brunette.

The library wasn’t completely empty, but it was pretty empty compared to how it normally was on the weekdays. A few people used it for the weekends, but not as many as one would think.

Clarke pressed the button to call the elevator and silently watched the numbers above slowly count down. If there was anything she had to complain about her school, it would be the speed of the elevators. The library’s elevators were the slowest on the campus.

When it finally came, she looked up at the only person occupying the elevator and did a double take.

She did not expect to see Lexa, dressed in jeans that made her legs look ridiculously long, sneakers, and a grey t-shirt. She also tried not to pay attention to the brunette’s soft brown curls that cascaded over her left shoulder.

The moment the elevator doors opened to reveal Clarke, Lexa’s breath was caught in her throat. She couldn’t breathe at the sight, nor could she think straight. Her head was screaming at her to run, because the pain of rejection was starting to eat at her conscious again. She tried to occupy her thoughts by juggling the books in her arms that were pressed against her chest.

Clarke turned around once she entered the elevator and tried her best not to pay attention to her, but between the unanswered silence, thick tension, and the slow-as-fuck elevator, she couldn’t deny her emotions any longer.

“So that’s all you were going to do?” Clarke blurted out loud as she ultimately turned to face Lexa. Lexa pressed her books closer to her chest to suppress her heart’s endless throbbing. She knew Clarke was pissed; her eyebrows were knitted together, her nose was scrunched up, and her dark blue eyes burned holes into hers. “Were you just going to avoid me and act like everything was okay?”

Lexa was nearly at loss for words, but the blonde’s name slipped effortlessly. “Clarke—“

Clarke cut her off and hissed, “No, let me talk, because you obviously didn’t want to.” Her eyes searched for answers, but all Lexa saw were daggers. “I get it. I get that what I did scared you off—hell, it would’ve scared me off, too, but you were fucking drunk off your ass, Lexa.” Clarke paused to let the words sink. Lexa swallowed nervously at the fear of the unknown; Clarke could spend the next minute, or two, yelling at her, scolding her, and doing everything in her will to let out her frustration, but she could also forgive her.

Clarke continued with a low growl, “You were drunk, I didn’t know what other shit you got into that night, and your breath reeked of alcohol. I didn’t want to kiss someone who might’ve not remembered it in the morning – I didn’t want to kiss you and then get blown off the next day, because in case you haven’t forgotten, I have feelings, too.” She searched Lexa’s eyes for a sign, anything that could tell her how she was feeling, and all she saw was empathy.

It was in that moment when Clarke realized how speechless and frightened Lexa stood in front of her. She forced herself to take a moment to calm down, because terrifying Lexa was the last thing she wanted to do.

In a gentler, and a slightly frightened and nervous, tone, Clarke began again, “I wanted to kiss you, Lexa.” Lexa’s eyes widen and her head tips up at the realization. The words are still processing in her brain when Clarke continued. “But, not like that… not while you were…” She paused. “I hated that you ran away. I really did. But, I’m not going to chase after someone who gives up so easily.”

_Ding!_

The elevator doors opened moments later, and with a final glance and a muttered ‘good-bye’, Clarke left. And Lexa watched her leave.

She was too caught up in her own feelings to think about chasing after her, because one, Clarke confessed to liking Lexa, and two, Clarke made it clear she disliked Lexa for what she did. And she admitted to herself that avoiding Clarke wasn’t the best plan, but under her emotional duress, she didn’t have any other solutions.

A boy walked in moments later and quietly glanced at her. “Do you… uh… what floor?”

Lexa didn’t answer.

“Okay,” the boy muttered awkwardly and pressed the very top floor.

Lexa swore under her breath when she realized she’d be stuck in the elevator for the next five minutes. She always hated that elevator.

-_-_-

“Wow.” Anya raised her eyebrows as she padded around her apartment in sweats and a tank top. She grabbed something from the fridge and walked back to her room. “What’d you do after that?”

Lexa sat on her bed with her knees pressed against her chest; her feet dug underneath the sheets for warmth and her fingers played with the bedding beside her. “Nothing.”

Anya sighed. “You are truly an idiot, little sis.”

Lexa rolled her eyes. “Instead of telling me something I’m already aware of, why don’t you inform me of why I’m an idiot.”

“Clarke didn’t want you to run anymore, and yet, you ran.” Anya paused. “Again.”

Lexa retraced her footsteps until she realized what Anya was talking about. She groaned inwardly and let her head fall against her knees.

“For your almost-second relationship, I must say, you are doing a lovely job,” Anya teased sarcastically.

“Shut up,” Lexa growled lowly.

Anya smirked. “If you talked to me before this whole thing blew up in your face, you could’ve avoided the drama.”

“The drama started when Clarke decided to date that other girl,” Lexa replied bitterly.

“It’s not her fault you were too slow.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Lexa deadpanned.

While Lexa spent the next few moments drowning in her own sorrow, Anya began snacking on a piece of bacon. As she chewed, she asked, “Any ideas what you’re going to do now?”

The answer was quite clear to both of them. “I have to talk to her.”

“Bingo. No other option, Lex.” Anya pulled out another piece of bacon.

“There’s no backing out of this, is there?”

“Would you?”

There was a slight pause. “No.” Lexa sighed. “I owe it to Clarke… I owe her an apology.”

“Very good, little sis,” Anya said with a smile. “I like this. This is some quality sibling bonding time. You should tell me about your crushes all the time.”

Lexa rolled her eyes, but couldn’t suppress the smile that played on her lips. “As if.”

“Hey, if Clarke doesn’t work out, do you think she’d be interested in me?” Anya teased.

Lexa’s lips formed an angry frown. “Good night, Anya.”

“Just a thought.” Anya laughed. “Oh, and hey, no more running. Remember that! Just barge in there and tell her you love her more than giant squids. That’ll get her falling head over heels for you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lexa muttered as she hovered over the end call icon.

“Also, if you mess up, tell her there’s a much better, and more beautiful, Woods sibling that would like to—”

“Good night!” Lexa yelled into the phone, just before she ended the call. She cursed under her breath and shook her head. Sometimes Anya could be a little bit of an annoyance.

-_-_-

Lexa hesitated as she hovered her knuckles over the front door of Clarke’s apartment. She was about to do something she never thought she’d have the courage to do. It didn’t help that anxiety was eating at her when she began to think of the many possibilities that could stem from her talk with Clarke. She didn’t even know if Clarke was willing to talk to her at all.

She swallowed nervously and gathered all the courage she had to finally rap lightly on the door. A few seconds passed before the door opened; Lexa expected to see Clarke, but instead saw Raven. She was almost relieved and released breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Raven,” Lexa greeted.

Raven smiled warmly. “Lexa.” She pulled the door open and gestured for her to come in. She didn’t need to ask her why she was there. “She’s in her room.”

Lexa gave a brief nod. “Thanks.”

She stopped at Clarke’s door and held another breath. She knocked on the door a couple times before it swung open and the sight in front of her nearly knocked her off her feet. Clarke stared flatly at her for a few moments before Lexa’s name slipped from her lips.

“Lexa,” she said flatly, greeting the brunette.

“Clarke.” Lexa’s heart skipped a beat.

Raven was peeping from around the corner and nearly squealed at the anticipated confrontation.

“May I come in?” Lexa asked nervously.

Clarke nodded once and opened the door, and after Lexa entered, she closed it. It didn’t matter if the door was closed or not, because she knew Raven and Octavia would be eavesdropping either way.

Lexa stood in the middle of Clarke’s room awkwardly, because she didn’t exactly rehearse that part. She almost thought where she sat was life or death. Thankfully, Clarke gestured her to sit on her bed, and she did.

She noticed the mess of papers and books on the blonde’s desk, and assumed she was in the middle of doing something important.

“If you’re busy right now, I can come back later…“

Clarke shook her head. “It’s fine. I could use a break.”

Lexa nodded and began to fiddle with the hem of her shirt that pooled on her lap. She was nervous and terrified. She had so many words to say and so many apologies to make; she was worried Clarke wouldn’t forgive her - she was worried the tension between them would be left unresolved by the end of her visit.

At first, Lexa found it hard to look at her in the eye. She looked down at her lap and went through the words she rehearsed. “I’m… I should…” _Shit_. _Not the best start, Lex_. “I… uh…” Lexa finally looked up at Clarke and saw light blue eyes staring back at her, waiting for her. Lexa’s mouth slightly parted at the sight, because her beauty and her patience wasn’t something she thought she deserved.

“I’m sorry,” Lexa blurted. “I was being an idiot. I…” Lexa shrugged and shook her head at herself. “…I’m not good with relationships,” she confessed. “I’m not good with people. I’m just… I’m a mess. I wanted to ask you out, but you and Kate… and I thought… I thought that was it. I thought you and Kate were going to hit it off and—“

“—You thought you were never going to get a chance?” Clarke moved to sit next to Lexa and she let their shoulders meet.

Lexa nodded. “Yes, for the most part. I guess I freaked out a bit. I mean, I was ready – I was ready to ask you, maybe grab some coffee, and discuss our appreciation for vegetables or lack thereof.” Both Lexa and Clarke let out a small and amused laugh. “I don’t know. When things didn’t work out, all I wanted to do was forget – forget that I liked you, and move on.”

“So, you went out drinking with Raven and Bellamy and their friends.”

“Not the greatest idea I’ve had,” Lexa admitted.

Clarke smirked. “It definitely could’ve been worse.”

“But that night, at the club, all I could think about was you. I kissed some girl because she looked like you, but she wasn’t you.” Clarke saw the somber look in Lexa’s eyes. “None of them were you. And then I tried to kiss you and you pushed me away, and I thought that was it. I thought that was the end of the line.” Lexa locked gazes with Clarke and shrugged. “So, I ran.” Silence fell between them for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Clarke. I’m sorry for avoiding you, and running away from… everything.”

Clarke nodded, and then turned her attention to the white wall across the room. “I should be apologizing as well.”

“For what?”

“For denying my feelings for you,” Clarke admitted before she turned to briefly gaze at the brunette. “I knew, but I did nothing.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if I was scared, or if I was even ready. I just didn’t know. And then Kate asked me out and I said yes, because it was simple. It was the easy way out, but that night, the night you went to the club with Raven and I went on my date, I knew it wasn’t right. I knew something was wrong, and as the night went on I realized what I really wanted. Kate is a nice person; she’s funny, kind, smart, and really interesting, but…” Clarke held her breath as she continued her long strings of confessions; she paused and turned to look at Lexa. “…She didn’t have eyes that could light up an entire room, she didn’t have this small, adorable, and affectionate smile, she didn’t have the longest legs in existence, or soft brown curls.” Clarke began to smile. “She wasn’t you.”

Lexa’s eyes widened in shock. “Me?”

Clarke laughed. “You act as if you’ve never had someone crush on you before.”

“Well…” Lexa shrugged. “…I’m usually not the type of person someone would like.”

“Why do you think that?”

Lexa shrugged again. “I went through a bad break up in High School, and it left me heartbroken. I was so caught up in the aftermath that I struggled through the first few months of college, and I realized at that moment that feelings were weakness. I locked my feelings away and guarded them to the best of my ability, and then, as my sister would say, I turned cold and intimidating. I focused on my studies and nothing else…” Lexa began to laugh. “…and then, next thing I know, I’m bumping into this blonde and knocking the coffee right out of her hand.” She heard Clarke’s raspy laugh and then a small brush against her shoulder; she laughed, too, and returned the bump.

Silence between them settled, but it wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable.

Lexa began to fiddle with the hem of her shirt, again. “I really like you, Clarke.”

“Hmm,” she hummed and teased, “I would’ve never guessed.”

“And maybe I can get you that cup of coffee sometime.”

Clarke beamed at the brunette. “I’d like that.”

Lexa broke out into a toothy grin, but before she could jump for joy, she had to make sure she wasn’t jumping to conclusions. “Uh, just to clarify, you and Kate aren’t…”

“Nope.”

“And I just asked you out.”

“Yup.”

“And you said yes?”

“Mhm,” Clarke confirmed with a hum.

Lexa felt warmth blossom in the pit of her stomach. “Okay,” she replied happily.

Clarke leaned into her. “I’m glad you came over.”

She nodded happily. “Me, too.”

“I’m sorry I snapped at you in the elevator.”

“I think I deserved that.”

“No, you didn’t. We should have talked it out, but I ended up yelling at you.”

“I would’ve yelled at me, too.”

“Are you going to come over later tonight to do homework?”

Lexa shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Busy?”

“I have a mock trial to study for later.”

“And here I thought we’d be able to snuggle under the sheets, eat unhealthy amounts of pizza, and watch documentaries on the deep sea,” Clarke teased with a wide grin.

Lexa blushed at the thought and nudged her hard in the ribs. “Do not tempt me, Clarke.”

The mock trial. That’s right. She almost forgot about it (Clarke had a habit of doing that to her). She reluctantly got up from her spot on Clarke’s bed and headed towards the door.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Clarke asked as she got up after her.

Lexa nodded. “Are you free to get coffee before Biology?”

Clarke nodded. “I am.”

She began to blush. “Great.”

“I’ll be ready to talk about my favorite vegetables,” Clarke teased, again.

“Very funny.”

When Clarke opened the door, Lexa nearly had to leap out of the way to avoid knocking into Raven and Octavia, who were very much eavesdropping.

“Really, you two?” Clarke huffed angrily.

Raven and Octavia both scrambled to get up, and tried their best to avoid the couple’s gaze.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Raven muttered and looked away.

Clarke rolled her eyes and showed Lexa out. The two hugged and said their good-byes, and once the brunette left, Clarke had to slam her bedroom door on her roommates to shut out all of their cheering and teasing.

-_-_-

“Technically, they’re not together yet,” Monty said on the Skype call with Octavia and Raven. “They’re going on a date. It’s a date. Not official.”

Octavia groaned. “No one ever clarified rules of this bet.”

“They aren’t ‘together’ until it’s official.”

Raven sighed. “I kind of agree with Monty, O.”

“Ah, what!?” Octavia sighed. “Fine.”

“Can we change bets?” Raven asked.

“No,” Monty replied simply.

“Hey, Clarke!” Raven yelled from her room. “When do you think you can ask Lexa to be your girlfriend!?”

Octavia and Monty heard Clarke shriek, “What!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> tripnskip@tumblr


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa go on their coffee date. Lexa asks her out on a second date. And Raven is still a little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I've been busy with work and stuff, but I've tried making this chapter extra long to make up for lost time. Enjoy!

Lexa picked up a chai tea latte and a mocha Frappuccino from the barista. She sat down across from Clarke and gave the blonde her order.

“Mm, thank you,” Clarke sighed in content. The aroma from the latte made her moan in delight, which almost caused Lexa to choke on her drink. “You really didn’t have to pay for mine, Lexa.”

She shook her head. “No. I asked you on this date, so I should pay.”

“How polite and chivalrous of you.”

She tipped her head and smiled warmly. “Only for the best.”

 

Raven and Octavia sat a few tables away from them; Octavia was busy working on her Literature homework with a notepad and her textbook in front of her while Raven was busy on more important matters – Lexa and Clarke.

“She bought her coffee,” Raven noted while deep in observation of the couple. She took a small bite out of her lemon pound cake and sipped on her vanilla latte while observing and categorizing every movement the couple made.

Octavia took a moment to look up from her notebook to gaze at the blonde and brunette. She smirked when she found Clarke’s bright blue eyes and wide grin. “She looks like she’s having a great time.”

Raven held back a sob and dramatically clasped her hand over Octavia’s. “Our baby girl is all grown up, O.”

“It’s okay, Raye. We’ll survive,” Octavia replied with a sympathetic frown. They both watched Clarke genuinely laugh at something Lexa said.

“Would it be weird if I told Clarke I want grandchildren?”

“A little, maybe.”

 

Lexa widened her eyes. “Really?”

Clarke nodded. “Yup. I got first place and a very interesting trophy made by the student body.”

“Wow,” Lexa said with slight nod. “And here I thought ‘toe wrestling’ was a myth.”

“It’s a little embarrassing that my parents worship the trophy like I won an academy award. It sits on our mantle like it’s the most important thing in the universe.” Clarke paused to chuckle. “My dad swears it’s the best conversation piece he’s ever had.”

Lexa laughed. “I’ll bet. You’ll have to show it to me sometime.” _Did I just invite myself over to her parents’ house? What the hell, Lexa?_

Thankfully, Clarke didn’t pick up on the unintended euphemism. “I’m sure my dad would love to tell you all about it.”

Lexa took a sip of her drink. “When I was little, I used to climb the tree in our backyard. My dad would always yell at me, because he’d worry I’d fall and break my arm, or something.”

Clarke laughed. “I can’t imagine that.”

“What?”

“You, climbing a tree.”

Lexa smiled. “Me neither. I was rather adventurous as a child.”

“Did you ever fall off it?” Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded. “Once. I broke my arm.”

Clarke winced at the image. “Ouch.”

“Yeah, but I got a kickass cast out of it. My dad colored it to make it look like one of Iron Man’s arms.”

“Whoa, that sounds amazing.” Clarke’s gaze lingered on the small twitch of Lexa’s lips and how pink they were before continuing their conversation. “So, you like superheroes?”

Lexa shrugged. “My father likes comic books. I’m not very interested in them – the superhero stuff, I mean. What about you?”

“I enjoy movies, and Raven loves superhero movies, so sometimes I get pulled into watching them. I have a soft spot for all of the badass female characters though.”

“Understandable.”

 

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Raven asked, eyes still fixed on the couple.

Octavia smirked as she continued writing. “It’s a date…” she paused. “…with coffee.” Her tone suggested like it was first-hand knowledge.

“So, the weather and stuff, right?”

Octavia laughed. “Yeah, Babe. Weather and stuff.” She finally looked up from her notebook. “Is that what you do on first dates?”

Raven chuckled. “If Clarke ever did the stuff I do on first dates, I don’t know if I’d be impressed, or worried.”

 

“I know it’s not my place to ask,” Lexa began. Her fingers nervously played with the cup in front of her. “Octavia’s brother.”

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows. “Bellamy?”

“Yeah.” Green eyes met blue. “Were you two...?” Clarke hummed in confusion. “I mean… were you guys ever…?”

It finally clicked. “Oh, you mean—if Bellamy and I were—Oh no—no, no, no—“ Clarke began to laugh. “Bellamy and I are really good friends. I’ve known him and Octavia since we were kids. We never—ew. Trust me, he’s like my brother.”

Lexa nodded and let a relieved smile grace her lips.

Clarke almost laughed at the thought. “Please tell me you didn’t think Bellamy and I were together.”

“You two seemed close.”

“I will admit, he’s handsome and charming when he wants to be, but trust me, there is no way we’d ever date. I mean, sometimes he gets way too protective – almost reminds me of my father.”

Lexa nodded again.

“But, enough about that.” Clarke paused to think of something to ask. She was usually comfortable talking to people she’s just met or trying to get to know better, but there was this nervousness in the pit of her stomach whenever she was alone with Lexa. “Do you have any hobbies?”

Lexa smiled sincerely. What she liked about Clarke is that she didn’t make their entire conversation solely about her. They went back and forth, asking each other questions.

“Mostly reading, but I like watching documentaries. I also like exercising, which I know you’re not very fond of.”

Clarke was then reminded of their first exchange through texts and broke into a grin. “Raven also mentioned your interesting fascination for giant squids.”

Lexa winced at that and began to blush as she let out a small nervous laugh. While she was proud about her squid knowledge, the fact that Clarke knew was a little embarrassing. “Yeah, I mean, I know a bit.”

Clarke leaned forward to rest her chin on the back of her hand. She looked more interested and intrigued than Lexa would have thought. Maybe all the years Anya teased Lexa for knowing so much about squids made her think it was more of a conversation piece than something to be proud of, but Clarke made it seem like it was a talent.

“You’ll have to tell me all you know someday,” Clarke said with fondness. “I love animals. I love learning about them.”

Lexa’s smile grew, and then she nodded. “What about you?”

“Well, you’ve already seen my paintings and drawings in my room.” Clarke pointed out. “Besides art, I guess I’m a little all over the place. I like reading, watching whatever I can find on Netflix, going to the beach, and baking.”

Lexa’s ears perked up. “Baking?”

Clarke nodded.

“Maybe you can teach me sometime.”

“Not fond of it?”

Lexa shrugged. “I’ve been banned from the kitchen _because of_ _it_.”

Clarke narrowed her eyes and flashed a playful smile. “I feel like there’s a story behind that.”

“Oh yes, and quite a story it is,” Lexa said with a small laugh. “Maybe I’ll tell you it.”

“I’ve got to say, I’m not much of a fire _preventer_ ,” Clarke teased as she impishly pressed her tongue between her teeth.

Lexa gave her a look. “I never said anything about a fire.”

“Well, it’s usually what I assume when someone tells me they’ve been banned from the kitchen.”

“Teach me,” the brunette insisted. “And I’ll tell you what happened.”

“Oh no,” Clarke laughed. “I’m not making our next date involve the obliteration of our kitchen.”

Lexa’s mouth gapped slightly at the mention of another date, because she hadn’t thought about it. She was stuck in the ‘here and now’ and not in the ‘what if’s’ or ‘maybes’. She smiled and tried to play it cool, like the mention of another date didn’t spiral her into a giddy frenzy that she could barely keep control of, because Lexa didn’t physically jump for joy (not publically, of course).

“Another time, then,” Lexa offered.

“I’ll make sure to call the fire department beforehand.”

Lexa laughed. “Don’t you guys have a fire extinguisher in your apartment?”

“The fire extinguisher is first line of defense. The fire department is the second,” Clarke clarified.

Lexa laughed again, and it was the most amazing thing Clarke has ever heard. Her laughter was joyous, and it made Clarke’s heart swell and the butterflies in her stomach flutter around like crazy. She couldn’t remember the last person to make her feel this way. Lexa was definitely something else.

 

Raven’s head moved side to side, trying to dodge the people passing by to get a good view of the couple. She noticed the slight sparkle in Clarke’s eyes and the indication of her interest and adoration by the slight tilt of her head.

She hit Octavia on the arm. Once more. And then repeatedly until the brunette answered.

“Raven,” Octavia warned her with a dark tone.

“They’re having eye sex,” Raven said giddily. “Eye sex!” She whispered harshly.

Octavia rolled her eyes. “When are they not having eye sex?”

“Who’s having eye sex?” Jasper asked as he and Monty approached the table. “Ooh, lemon pound cake!” He reached for it, but before he could get near it, Raven slapped his hand away. “Hey!” he exclaimed.

“Do not touch the sacred lemon pound cake,” Raven warned him.

“Sacred as the cake-pops here,” Monty agreed with a small smile.

Jasper watched Raven turn her attention back to whatever she was previously looking at. He noticed how transfixed she seemed and even snuck off with a bit of the cake when she wasn’t looking. “What’s going on?”

“Clarke and Lexa are on a date, and Raven is eavesdropping.” Monty followed Raven’s gaze.

“Not eavesdropping,” Raven corrected Monty and then glared at Jasper when she realized what he did. “I’m being a good friend and making sure Clarke is happy.”

Jasper looked over where Clarke was sitting and noticed the wide grin. “She looks happy.”

“Thus, my job is complete.” Raven nodded.

Monty narrowed his eyes at Raven. “You just needed an excuse to spy on them.”

“I’m observing,” Raven pointed out. “Not spying.”

Monty managed to swipe a bit of lemon cake for himself, earning a glare from Raven. “Same thing. You just want to win the bet.”

“You guys are still on that?” Jasper asked.

Octavia nodded. “I have no idea why, but the pool is twice the amount since those oblivious idiots over there…” She gestured to Lexa and Clarke. “…took longer than we originally bet for.”

“What’s your guys’ bets now?”

None of them realized the two figures standing by them off to the side.

“Do I want to know why you guys are here?” Clarke asked with her backpack slung over her shoulder; her tone was not pleasant. Lexa was close behind her, mildly confused by Clarke’s tone.

“Oh, Clarke!” Raven exclaimed rather loudly. “Lemon pound cake?” She held out the snack to Clarke and Lexa, but Clarke merely shook her head. “Don’t give me that look. Did you really expect anything less?”

The café was now starting to get over crowded with students that had just gotten out of their classes and trying to get as much coffee in their system to survive the rest of the day. A man behind Lexa pushed his way to the door and accidentally shoved Lexa forwards.

“Excuse me,” the man mumbled as he passed.

She used the closest thing to balance herself and avoid stumbling, and the closest thing happened to be Clarke. She didn’t realize her hand was wrapped around the blonde’s arm until the close proximity (and the sweet scent of Clarke’s lovely perfume) temporarily made her forget how to breathe. They exchanged small smiles before Lexa forced herself to take a step back.

Surprisingly, no one else noticed.

The group left the café before it got too crowded and made their way towards the Science building where their Biology class was. On the way, Octavia and Monty said their good-byes and went their separate way, leaving Clarke, Raven, Jasper, and Lexa. Clarke and Lexa walked together in the front, and Raven and Jasper walked behind them.

“So, Maya and I were thinking of having a bowling night,” Jasper said to Raven, since Clarke and Lexa were in their own conversation.

“Oh?” Raven smirked. “I’d love to see you fall on your ass down the lanes.”

He gave Raven a look. “Or a movie night. We don’t have to go bowling.”

Raven laughed and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “I’m just teasing you, but yeah, we should do that. I can’t remember the last time we all went out, you know, with Bellamy, Maya, Lincoln, and Miller.”

“Yeah. I miss seeing all of us together.”

Raven squeezed his shoulder. “Set up a date and time, and I’ll rally the troops.”

 

“You act as if I’ve never heard of books before,” Clarke said as she walked beside Lexa, flashing a sly smile.

“You have yet to express fondness over them,” Lexa reminded her.

“When I was little, my dad used to read me bedtime stories. For some reason, the Harry Potter books were considered ‘bedtime’ stories.” Clarke paused to think; her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth crooked to the side. “Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure he read those to me just to make it seem like he wasn’t a giant nerd in front of my mom.”

Lexa smiled at the thought.

“I imagine you read some crazy amount of books a day.” Clarke bumped shoulders with her every now and then. Neither seemed to think anything of it. Whenever Clarke did the same thing with Raven and Octavia, they assumed Clarke was unable to walk in a straight line.

Lexa shrugged. “I read at my own pace.”

“Got a favorite?”

She frowned. “It’s like you’re asking me which of my children I favor the most.”

“You make it seem like I’m offending you. It’s a general question – it’s like asking what your favorite food is.”

“But, a book is not food.”

“Well, you got me there,” Clarke deadpanned.

It was Lexa’s turn to bump into Clarke, but this time she did it with a little more force to denote how displeased she was with Clarke’s sarcastic quip. The blonde beamed at Lexa as the two fell into comfortable silence. Just being around each other was enough to brighten their day.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Raven called behind them.

Clarke couldn’t get mad at Raven for teasing them – hell, she probably had a whole list of names to call them. She mumbled an apology to Lexa before turning around.

“What?”

“Don’t forget Jasper and I are here, too,” Raven said as she caught up with the couple.

“You practically went on the date with us, how could I forget?”

Raven wrapped her arm around Clarke as they continued to walk. “I was just looking out for you, y’know, making sure Lexa doesn’t murder you or something.”

Clarke gave her a look. “Do you honestly think she’d do that?”

“I don’t know,” Raven said with a shrug. “Looks can be deceiving.”

Lexa nodded. “She’s right.” Clarke turned to Lexa with raised eyebrows. Jasper was trying to hold back a laugh, and Raven nodded in agreement. “I could’ve asked you out with the intention of stealing your kidneys.” The look on the blonde’s face was priceless, and Lexa couldn’t suppress the playful smile.

“You see, guys, this is why I have trust issues.” Clarke looked between the two of them.

The three of them burst into laughter.

“Even if you stole my kidneys, at least I could say it was stolen by a beautiful brunette with green eyes and looks that could kill to make it seem like I was seduced and not completely moronic,” Clarke said with ease, as if it were the truth and nothing more.

Lexa blush bright red and the tips of her ears began to burn. She tried to hide it, but failed. Clarke smirked at her success and held her head high.

Raven silently kept to herself and let the couple have their moment as she struggled to hide her smile.

The four of them continued to talk about small things, like campus events and clubs, until they reached their class. Raven, Jasper, and Lexa took their regular seats, and Clarke took a seat next to Lexa.

Raven and Jasper talked to each other, something about a new video game, so that gave Clarke some alone time with Lexa.

“I’m sorry about my friends,” Clarke said to Lexa as she glanced at Raven and Jasper.

“Again, there is no need to apologize, Clarke.” Neither of them realized they were leaning towards each other. “I assume what they do is in their best intentions.”

Clarke turned her head to gaze at her, and Lexa did the same. Clarke’s eyes briefly flicked to Lexa’s lips and then met her gaze once more. “Regardless, I did have a nice time.”

“Yeah?”

Clarke nodded.

Lexa wanted to ask her on a second date, but the words were caught in her throat. She meant to ask sooner, but she didn’t want to sound too eager, or too pushy. She wanted to sound casual, but her underlying excitement was anything but that.

“I want to take you on a real date,” she said. She didn’t realize how sweaty her hands had become. “That is, if you’ll let me – I mean, if you want to go on another date. I understand if you don’t.”

Clarke found Lexa’s rambling cute. “A real date?”

Lexa nodded. “Like dinner and a movie – or maybe not a movie. Maybe something else.”

“Dinner, huh?” Clarke smiled at the idea. “Where?”

“It’s a surprise.” Lexa actually didn’t know where. She’d have to do some research later and find a good place to eat, but the only issue with finding a good restaurant was that Clarke knew the area, and Lexa did not. The last thing Lexa wanted to do was choose a place that Clarke disliked.

Clarke raised her eyebrow at the brunette.

“Relax, Clarke,” Lexa smiled warmly. “I’m not going to steal your kidney.”

Clarke chuckled. “In that case, I’d love to go on another date with you, Lexa.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

If Lexa could to somersaults, she would, but instead, she mentally celebrated with imaginary confetti.

Professor Kane hastily walked through the doors. “Good afternoon class,” he said with a booming voice that ricocheted off the walls. “Please pass your homework up and then we’ll begin today’s lesson.” Clarke took it as her cue to go into TA-mode.

After class, Clarke met up with Raven, Jasper, and Lexa, who were discussing how fucked they were for the next midterm, which was only a couple weeks away.

“I don’t see why you guys are so worried,” Clarke said as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. “You guys did great on the first one.”

“That’s because we studied until we were on the brink of passing out,” Raven replied. “I don’t know how you do it, Griff.”

Clarke chuckled, because a part of her didn’t know how she did it either. There were many times when she looked over her dozens of sheets of terminology and factoids and instantly thought her head was going to explode on the spot. Her memorization skills weren’t that great, and she knew it thanks to her High School History classes (and no thanks to the Hundreds’ Years War, which didn’t last for one-hundred years, but historians thought it was a great idea to call it that).

She eventually found out that her way of memorization was through songs and rhymes. “I don’t know how I do it either.”

“Anyone up for some pizza and video games tonight?” Jasper asked with an enthusiastic, yet cheesy, grin. He looked between the three girls.

“I’m down,” Raven nodded.

“Sweet!” Jasper turned to the other two. “Lexa? Clarke?”

“I’m going to have to pass, Jas,” Clarke replied with an apologetic frown. “I have to do a write up to pair with my Biology project.”

“You still haven’t finished it?” Lexa asked, and Clarke shook her head.

“I tried to finish it on Sunday, but someone distracted me,” Clarke teased, which made Lexa respond with a small frown. Clarke thought it was adorable and failed to fight the massive grin. Raven’s gaze fell between the two as they had their little moment.

“You guys are adorable, I want to puke,” Raven said as she tilted her head to the side in awe. Jasper leaned his head against her shoulder and made the same awestruck face.

Clarke rolled her eyes at them and told them to shut up. They laughed in response.

Lexa glanced at her watch. “I should get going to my other class.”

“I’ll walk you.” Clarke waved to Raven and Jasper, and they waved back. Clarke tried not to blush when she heard Raven’s voice from down the hall, ‘Don’t forget to use projection!’, and she hoped Lexa was feeling particularly deaf at that exact moment. Nevertheless, she quickened her pace before Raven could embarrass her any further.

On the way to Lexa’s class, Clarke tried to pump her for information on their next date, but Lexa never caved. Lexa accused Clarke of walking her to class just for that purpose, but she denied all accusations with the smallest and cutest laugh Lexa has never heard.

“Are you free on Saturday?” Lexa asked as they stopped near her next class.

Clarke hummed in thought. “I should be.”

“It’s a date, then.”

* * *

“What do I wear?” Clarke asked as she rummaged through her closet.

Octavia and Raven were watching as the blonde pulled all of her clothes out and into a pile on her bed. The two were all smiles as they witnessed Clarke’s panicked and manic state.

“Clarke, she told you to dress casual,” Octavia said. She picked up a very revealing dress from the pile and whistled lowly. “Damn – okay, screw casual. Wear this.” She shook the piece of clothing in her hand. “This’ll make her jaw drop.”

“If you want her jaw to _really_ drop,” Raven began with a sly smirk. “You should wear nothing.”

Octavia shot her a look. “Only you would suggest wearing nothing on a date.”

“Hey, I’m just putting suggestions out there.”

Clarke turned to her friends and blew a strand of hair away from her face with a huff. “Okay, one, I am not wearing that dress unless I want Lexa to tear it off me.” Octavia suggestively waggled her eyebrows at her before putting the garment down. “And two, I am not ‘wearing nothing’ to a date.”

“Again, a suggestion,” Raven corrected her.

Clarke rolled her eyes and continued to go through her closet.

“Just wear jeans and a nice top.” Octavia leaned against the edge of Clarke’s bed. “It never fails to make Lincoln drool.”

Clarke paused. “I do not want to be thinking about that.”

“I agree with O.” Raven took a seat next to Octavia. “Jeans and a shirt – or, you know, without a shirt.” Clarke glared at her, and she held her hands up in defense. “Whatever works for you. Hey, Lexa already saw you half naked when you were drunk, so it’s not like there will be any surprises.” Octavia had to hide her chuckle behind her hand.

Clarke groaned out loud. “Why did you have to remind me?”

Raven shrugged and then smirked. “It’s what friends are for, to remind you of all your embarrassing moments, like that time you laughed and farted at the same time – countless times, actually.”

“Fuck you, Raye.”

“I love you, too, Clarkey-poo,” Raven said with a wink and a sloppy kissy face.

* * *

“Wow,” Anya drew out with a whistle. “You’re really going all out on this date.”

“I am not,” Lexa huffed. She planned out the entire evening, and even had a back-up plan in case it rained. And after some consulting with Raven and Octavia and a little bit of Monty and Jasper, and some help from Yelp, she found the perfect Italian restaurant to take Clarke to. “It’s dinner and then something fun at the end.”

Anya moved her cellphone to the other ear. “You went from coffee to dinner.” She hummed in delight. “I am very impressed, little sis. You’ll be at third base in no time.”

Lexa blushed and mumbled, “Shut up, Anya.”

She laughed. “So, when do I get to meet her?”

“Never.”

“Aw, c’mon, Lexa. It’s the traditional big sister talk. She’s going to have to hear it at some point.”

“How is it a tradition if you’ve only done it once?” Lexa opened her closet and began to sift through her lines of clothes. _Casual – casual clothes for a casual date_ , she reminded herself.

“Are you going to wear the same number you wore to Auntie Indra’s wedding?” Anya waggled her eyebrows and grinned. “ _That_ was something.”

“No…” Lexa grounded out. “That was meant to be a one-time thing…” She paused as her thoughts drifted to that wedding, because she remembered that night perfectly. She wore a backless green dress that caught more eyes than a famous actress, but she didn’t wear it for the sake of the wedding. She wore the dress for Costia. “…And it wasn’t for the wedding.”

“Right,” Anya sighed. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She still had that dress.

“So… Clarke.”

Lexa’s ears perked up at the mention of the blonde. “Yes?”

“What do you like about her?”

Her face fell. “I am not having this conversation with you.”

Anya laughed. “Why? What’s so wrong with asking?”

“Because you always do this – you do this so you can embarrass me later when you meet her,” Lexa huffed in annoyance.

“Jeeze, Lex. Sorry I bothered you with my caring.” Anya found it funny how defensive her little sister was. She even began to find it endearing.

“Jeans and a nice t-shirt,” Lexa declared as she ultimately changed the subject.

“It’s like you’re trying to bore her,” Anya said with a dull tone. “You should dress like you want her to rip your clothes off.”

Lexa rolled her eyes. “It wouldn’t be comfortable for where I’m taking her after dinner.”

“Oooh,” Anya gasped in delight. “And where are you taking her? Somewhere nice and secluded so you could smooch her? Skinny dipping, maybe? I knew you were a sucker for long walks on the beach.”

“Shut up – and no, we’re not going to the beach.”

“Arcade?” Anya gasped dramatically. “Annihilating your girlfriend on the second date? I always knew you got off on competitiveness.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Admit it, you love it,” Anya said lowly with a laugh that sounded more menacingly that it should’ve been.

“Do I love being badgered by big sister because of a girl I decide to date?” Lexa paused. “No.”

“Whatever.” Anya collapsed on her bed and stared up at the ceiling with a sly grin. “You love me either way, and in the happenstance that you decide to do more than date this ‘Clarke’ girl, you’ll eventually have to introduce her to me, so you have no choice but to roll with the punches and put up with me.”

“Good night, Anya,” Lexa said finally before hanging up.

Lexa sighed to herself before laying down her planned attire onto her bed. She pulled out a couple more shirts from her closet and lay them down above her jeans. She switched between the three shirts before deciding on a black top and navy blue pants. She walked over to the mirror and held her breath as she pressed the clothes against her chest. She shifted from side to side and quietly admired herself.

The more she thought about seeing Clarke and taking her to dinner, the more the butterflies in her stomach stirred. She was nervous, but excited. Clarke always did that to her though – the blonde made her feelings clash and battle each other for dominance, but she also made it feel like it was appropriate and rewarding.

Lexa beamed at herself in the mirror one more time before getting ready.

* * *

“Hey, Clarke!” Raven shouted from the frontdoor. “Your girlfriend is here!”

Clarke angrily rounded the corner of the hallway. “Raven, for the last time—“ She stopped abruptly when she saw the green-eyed brunette standing at the doorway and nervously beaming at her as if she were the sun. “Lexa.” She paused, and tried to continue, but fumbled with her words. “You—I mean—I—um…” Clarke laughed at herself, and Lexa tried to suppress her short hums of amusement. Lexa thought it was adorable. “You look very beautiful tonight.”

“You look gorgeous, Clarke.”

Raven smirked. “Shit, I can’t wait to see what you two say when you go on an extravagant and non-casual date.” Clarke and Lexa were both dressed in casual jeans and shirt attire. Clarke rolled her eyes and then began to protest when she felt a push on her back. “Okay, cuties.” She shoved Clarke towards Lexa. “I expect you to bring her home by eleven, and if you do anything to hurt her, I’ll have you know Octavia has been training in Taijutsu for five years, so she can totally kick your ass. And I’ve been watching a lot of ‘Snapped’, ‘Dateline’, and ’48 Hours’ lately, so I know how to make it look like an accident.”

Clarke felt her face glow red at the embarrassment, while Lexa merely smiled.

Raven broke out into a grin. “Have fun!” She closed the door, and Clarke did not look amused.

“Raven!” Clarke yelled through the door. “I kind of need my purse!”

The door promptly opened seconds later and a purse was shoved in the blonde’s arms. Lexa heard Clarke’s grumbles of protest as she cursed her roommates and tried not to smile.

“Are you ready, Clarke?”

Clarke finally turned to Lexa. “Oh—“ She could feel the slickness of her palms slide against the leather of her purse (that wasn’t a good sign – sweaty palms was never good). “—Yes. Yes, I am. I’m sorry—uh, about Raven and Octavia… for the hundredth time.”

“You apologize for them too much.”

“It’s practically out of reflex now.”

* * *

Lexa didn’t tell Clarke what kind of restaurant she was taking them to. All Clarke knew was that they were going to eat somewhere, and Clarke knew Raven and Octavia knew where it was, because they were snickering whenever Clarke complained about what attire to wear in case the restaurant ended up being much nicer than she thought.

Clarke’s eyes lit up as she read the bright red sign next to the entrance of the small parking lot they pulled into.

“You said your favorite food was Italian, so I thought I’d bring you to an Italian restaurant. It was actually pretty hard to find a place you hadn’t already been to, so I consulted Raven and Octavia,” Lexa confessed as she turned off the engine.

The Italian place was surely a hole in the wall, given by the small stature of the restaurant and the few cars in the parking lot, but it was the most popular in the area according to online reviews.

Clarke was too busy looking at the cuteness of the little restaurant, its red and white tiled table cloths that could be seen from the window, and a big sign on the front door that said ‘Welcome’ in Italian, to notice that Lexa had gotten out of the car and went around to open the passenger side door.

Lexa beamed at her and held out her hand. Clarke was almost taken aback by the gesture, because she couldn’t remember the last time one of her dates was as chivalrous. The blonde nearly blushed at the gesture as she took the offered hand and got out of the car.

Clarke was sure her hands were still sweaty from the nervousness in the pit of her stomach, but thankfully Lexa didn’t say anything. Clarke could feel a tug at her heart when the brunette’s hand left hers. She missed the warmth. Maybe it was the fall weather. Maybe not. Definitely not.

The waiter greeted them as they passed through the door. “Welcome! How many in your party this evening?”

“Two,” Lexa replied.

“Of course, right this way,” the man gestured down the aisle as he walked. They passed through a few couples and a family before they got to their table.

The two sat across from each other, and then the waiter handed them their menus. “Would you two like to get started with something to drink?”

“I’ll have a water,” Clarke replied, almost out of habit.

Lexa didn’t want Clarke to think that she had any obligation to accumulate as little money as possible. “Clarke, you may choose anything you want,” she reassured her date.

Clarke shook her head. “I’m fine with water.”

“I’ll have a water as well.”

The waiter nodded. “Of course.” And then he walked away to give the couple some privacy.

Clarke took a look at the menu from top to bottom and then determined her choice by the categories. She ended up ordering their signature dish of spaghetti and meatballs (she was always a sucker for traditional spaghetti), and Lexa ordered shrimp scampi and a calamari appetizer for them to share. After the waiter took their orders, Lexa and Clarke easily fell into a casual conversation. They talked about allergies (since they never talked about it and thankfully neither of them were allergic to anything big like peanuts or chocolate), some of their favorite childhood memories (ranging from old television shows to miscellaneous toys like ‘Bop It’ and ‘Skip It’), and phobias (Clarke revealed her arachnophobia; Lexa did not mind spiders and reassured her that she’d take care of them for her).

Clarke nearly drooled when their food came out, and Lexa saw it as a good sign – a very good sign. They ate some of their food and then a little bit of each other’s. Their plates were practically licked clean by the time they were finished.

The hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant was probably the best Italian food Clarke has never had. She made sure Lexa knew how good her choice was, and that put Lexa’s worry at ease. The last thing Lexa wanted was for her date to be ruined by a bad choice of food.

Lexa paid, whilst ignoring Clarke’s protests, and made sure to say good-bye to the chefs and the waiters, because she was sure they’d be back more than once.

They climbed into Lexa’s car and before Clarke could thank her for a wonderful date, she announced that she had one more surprise.

“The date isn’t over yet, Clarke,” Lexa told the blonde as she drove out of the parking lot.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll have to wait until we get there.”

Clarke was impressed. “You’re really pulling all the stops for this date.”

“Well… you are more than worth it.” In that exact moment, green eyes met blue, and both of them tried to suppress the impossible spread of the blush on their cheeks.

“Very smooth.”

“I do have moves, Clarke.”

“Yeah?”

“Is it working?”

“It might be.”

Clarke watched as Lexa turned down a path off the side of the road, and all she saw were trees, bushes, and endless fencing that ran parallel to them. The area was dark except for the bright shine from the car’s headlights that illuminated the path.

“Okay, I know you were joking about stealing my kidney, but now I’m a little worried.”

Lexa laughed lightly. “You have nothing to fear, Clarke.”

“That’s something a person who’d want to steal my organs would say,” she replied jokingly.

They drove up a winding and coiling path for ten minutes, and when Lexa parked the car Clarke was the first to get out.

“Whoa,” Clarke gasped as the view nearly knocked the breath out of her.

Lexa had parked on top of a high vantage point on the side of a mountain, and it was a perfect view of the city. Clarke could see the stop and go traffic on the major freeway in the middle of the city, and the lights from the tall business buildings. They didn’t hear any honks from the cars zipping up and down the roads, nor the sounds of the bustling city folk that littered the sidewalks. It was a breath of fresh air, and a calm and peaceful silence.

“How did you find this place?” Clarke asked.

“Echo told me about it,” Lexa replied as she popped open the trunk.

“It’s beautiful.”

Lexa came up beside her, and shook out a blanket and spread it on the hood of her car. She unfolded the sides and tossed another blanket on top of it.

“What is this?” Clarke asked, curious.

“You mentioned that you used to stargaze with your father.” The brunette sat on the hood and Clarke joined her.

Clarke took a moment to lay down and gaze up at the starlit sky. “Yeah… we used to… when I was little.” Lexa took the second blanket and draped it over their bodies, and lay down next to Clarke. “I hope you know the constellations, because I do not – and sometimes I thought my father just pointed at random stars and called out random names.”

Lexa chuckled lightly and placed a book between them. Their shoulders brushed together as they both leaned in towards the object. Lexa opened it as she spoke, “I bought a book on constellations, just in case.”

“Of course you did,” Clarke leaned in closer and held half of the book open. Strands of blonde hair blocked Lexa’s view as Clarke managed to invade her personal space (not that she minded, because she didn’t). Lexa beamed at the blonde, admiring the way she licked her bottom lip and how carefully she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, as she flipped through the book.

“Okay, this one seems easy to find,” Clarke finally said, pulling Lexa out of her own thoughts.

“Hm?”

Clarke leaned back, keeping her head tilted towards the brunette, and rested her hands on her chest. A light breeze began to travel through them, causing them to lean towards each other for warmth.

Clarke pointed towards the sky. “Oh, there it is.”

Lexa furrowed her eyebrows and leaned more towards the blonde to get a better view. “Where?”

“Right there.”

“You do realize you’re pointing at a billion stars and saying ‘there’.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and took the book. She lifted it up and pointed at the picture, and then the stars. “See?”

Lexa scooted closer to Clarke and rested her head against the blonde’s shoulder. “You’re asking me if a cluster of stars looks like the cluster of stars in this picture.”

“You act as if this is a test that’ll determine your final grade on your non-existent stargazing class.”

“I’m only being a realist.”

Clarke chuckled and nudged her. “Use your imagination.”

Lexa shifted in her spot and let Clarke shuffle through the pages. Whether or not they were real constellations, Clarke managed to spot a few. Lexa tried to participate (instead of silently drooling over the blonde) and spotted a couple herself.

After an hour, the book was closed and forgotten off to the side, and the couple fell into a peaceful silence. Lexa let her mind wander as she studied the small twinkles of the stars in the sky and the small red lights of airplanes that slowly passed by. She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt the blonde shift beside her. When she turned her head, she didn’t expect to see big blue eyes staring back at her. They were soft, gentle, and happy.

“Thank you,” Clarke said with a soft raspy voice.

Lexa’s eyes flicked between her eyes and her lips. “For what?”

“For this night… this date.” Clarke’s nose was centimeters away from Lexa’s. “I had a lot of fun. You could’ve ended it after dinner, or you could’ve picked a subpar place to eat at, but you didn’t. So, thank you.”

Clarke couldn’t remember the last time she felt this loved and cared for romantically. She’s had some pretty good dates before, but most of them failed in the long-term, and after enough failed attempts at dating, Clarke decided to commit to her work for med school and her artistic hobby. As cliché as it sounded, Clarke only opened her eyes again when Lexa came into view. She didn’t know why she cared so deeply for the brunette, or why her stomach did somersaults whenever she came into view, until she realized that it was probably a sign for her give her heart a chance again.

Lexa stared deeply into the blonde’s blue eyes (that still managed to send her in a dizzy frenzy) and smiled lightly. She reached up and tucked a lone blonde strand behind Clarke’s ear. “Why do I feel like this is about more than the date?”

Clarke leaned in slowly and softly brushed her lips against Lexa’s before capturing them. Lexa moved closer to Clarke as her arms snaked underneath the blanket and around Clarke’s side, pulling them closer. Clarke’s hand tenderly caressed Lexa’s cheek as she continued their slow and gentle kiss. They didn’t rush through it, or force the other to kiss harder. They followed each other’s lead, exchanging soft sighs, and hums of encouragement and pleasure.

When they finally pulled away, neither of them were breathless, but both of them were lightheaded.

“Was that everything you thought it would be?” Clarke teased, biting her bottom lip.

Lexa laughed lightly. “I don’t know. I was pretty drunk that night.”

Clarke laughed and leaned in for another kiss, one that Lexa gladly accepted.

* * *

“I had a really great time, Lexa,” Clarke said as she and Lexa walked towards her apartment, hand in hand.

“I’m glad.” Lexa couldn’t stop the wide, goofy, and love-struck grin that was plastered all over her face. “And next time we go stargazing, I’ll come more prepared.”

“In that case, next time I’ll test you on it.” She stopped in front of her apartment and pulled Lexa closer. She hovered mere centimeters apart from the brunette’s lips. “No multiple choice, all fill in the blank.”

“Evil.”

Clarke pulled the brunette in for a kiss, one a little less gentle than the ones they shared under the eyes of the stars.

“I don’t think I need to ask if you guys had a good time,” Raven said from the front door that was wide open. How did Clarke and Lexa not notice?

Clarke reluctantly pulled away and glared at her roommate. “Hasn’t anyone told you that peeping is bad?”

“You might be the first, Princess,” Raven winked.

Lexa squeezed Clarke’s hand. “I should get going.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

She nodded and leaned in for a chaste kiss. “Good night, Clarke.” She took a glance at her watch and gestured to Raven. “Eleven on the dot.”

Raven nodded and grinned at the brunette. “Doing me proud.”

When Lexa was out of earshot, Raven whistled lowly. “You are so smitten.”

Clarke nudged her in the ribs as she passed her. “Shut up.”

Raven laughed. “If you could blush any more, I’d say you were a smitten raspberry.”

“I’m going to ignore you.”

“I’m fine with that. Besides, I expect a full detailed report on your night with the green-eyed beauty on my desk by tomorrow night, so no rush.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and closed her bedroom door, and then promptly squealed silently into her stuffed raccoon, because holy shit, that date was everything she hoped it would be.

* * *

“You guys are disgusting.” Octavia rested her hands on her hip. She watched Jasper and Monty pour some vodka, coke, and four bottles of something she didn’t recognize, into a red solo cup. “Do I even want to know what’s in those little bottles?”

“Experimentations,” Monty replied with a small smile. “Nothing harmful.”

Jasper nodded. “We left the harmful stuff at our place.”

Octavia shook her head and turned to Raven, whom was sitting on the couch playing Mario Kart. “And you.”

Raven didn’t need to turn her head to know who she was talking to. “What about me?”

“You’re okay with the mad scientists doing experiments in our apartment?”

“As long as they share,” Raven replied calmly.

Clarke sat on the other end of the couch with her legs extending over Lexa’s lap. Lexa was playing Mario Kart with Raven, who seemed in distress probably because she was losing.

“What about you, Princess?” Octavia asked.

“Don’t call me that,” Clarke replied with a frown. Octavia stuck her hand in front of Clarke’s face and Clarke batted it away. “As long as they don’t make a mess, I’m fine with it. Plus, I want to taste what they’ve got.”

“I think you’ll like this very much, Clarke,” Jasper replied with a wide grin. He poured a few drops into the cup and stirred it with a straw.

Octavia turned to Lexa. “Your girlfriend is a bad influence.”

Lexa shrugged, and seconds later, Raven was practically screaming.

“No, no, no—don’t blue shell me!” Raven yelped.

“Eat it, Raven!” Lexa shouted, right before Raven broke out into dramatic sobs.

“Great. Just great.” Raven threw her controller to the side. “I hope you’re happy.”

Lexa’s smile was wide and bright. “I am.”

“What happened?” Clarke asked with an amusing grin.

“Toad won.” Raven rolled her eyes. “I hate Toad.”

Lexa laughed and began to knead Clarke’s legs. “I think Toad deserved the win.”

“Whatever,” Raven grounded out.

Clarke nudged Lexa in the arm. “You sabotaged Raven?”

“I did.”

“I don’t know if I can date someone who sabotages my friends.”

Lexa pouted, and Clarke thought it was the cutest. She wanted to kiss that pout off her face, but hesitated. It was the day after their date, the day after their first kiss, and Clarke didn’t know where she and Lexa stood, kissing-wise. She wanted to kiss the brunette the moment she walked into her apartment, but didn’t want to make things awkward (in case Lexa didn’t want to kiss) and settled with a long hug.

This time, it was Lexa who leaned in for a kiss, and although it caught Clarke by surprise, she went with it and leaned in as well. The two kissed briefly, but it didn’t fail to leave them breathless and wanting more.

When they pulled apart, they heard exaggerated gagging from the other end of the couch. Clarke turned to Raven and Octavia, and gave them each a death glare.

“Is this okay?” Lexa asked quietly and nervously. “The kissing… and everything.”

Clarke took a moment to process her question. “What? Yeah—I mean, yeah. Of course.”

“Because I wasn’t sure… I mean, after last night… I don’t know. I just assumed—“

“Lexa,” Clarke interjected with a small laugh. “It’s fine. I would actually be offended if you _didn’t_ want to kiss me.”

“I, too, accept kisses at any given moment,” Raven said as she stuffed chips into her mouth. “You know, if Clarkey-poo doesn’t feel up to it.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and Lexa chuckled.

* * *

[Later that week]

“They were holding hands on the way to class,” Raven said with an impatient sigh. “I say that constitutes as ‘together’.”

Monty shook his head. “Did you ask Clarke if they were _together_?”

“No…”

Octavia smirked. “We all agreed on the official girlfriend-status as the end of the bed, and just so we’re all on the same page, I asked Clarke about them when she got back from class and she said they were dating.”

Raven groaned. “They’re like slow… adorable bunnies.”

Jasper looked between everyone in the Skype Call. “Monty, we’re supposed to be playing Mortal Kombat, not talking about Clarke’s girlfriend.”

“See!” Raven threw her arms up in complaint. “Even Jasper is calling Lexa her girlfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ tripnskip.tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi @ tripnskip.tumblr!


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